Avenger Goddess
by Reyel
Summary: "I used to want to save the world. This beautiful place... But I knew so little then. It is a land of magic and wonder, worth cherishing in every way, but the closer you get, the more you see the great darkness simmering within." WW/Avengers crossover. Wonder Woman in Marvel Cinematic Universe.
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 1 - Prologue**

Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, believed he walked in the footsteps of the gods. He believed that there was an ancient power left behind on Earth by them, and that only a superior man would have the means to seize that power. His faith in this was so big that had ultimately led to creation of HYDRA and even to their betrayal of Hitler himself.

Peggy Carter, of course, didn't believe in that. To her, it was bloody nonsense, the words of a maniac, even if a dangerous one. To her, there was only humanity and men were responsible for everything that happened with themselves, good and bad. She wasn't much of a believer in anything, but in the end, if there was a god, Peggy thought he would remain far away and let people deal with their own problems.

That didn't mean she could explain every single thing under the sky; not even Howard Stark could hope to do that, and she knew she wasn't nearly as intelligent as he was. Even then, Peggy wasn't ashamed to answer questions with a well placed "I don't know" when faced with things she didn't understand. The Tesseract, for example, that Schmidt called the "Jewel of Odin's Treasure Room", was one of those things.

A source of unlimited power that HYDRA used to make fearsome weapons, the Tesseract was one of the reasons Schmidt had so much power to face them. It was something that no one, not even Howard and their best scientists, could explain; but it wasn't because she didn't understand it that she would simply call it a "power left behind by the gods". It was simply something they still didn't comprehend.

In that aspect, she differed from Diana almost completely. While she doubted the existence and influence of the gods, Diana had unshakable faith. Not only she wholeheartedly believed in Schmidt's claims that the Tesseract was a godly power, she also believed that he was Ares, the God of War, himself. She believed that he was responsible for all that was evil in "Man's World", the World War included. And she believed that if she could kill him, she could end the war and save countless lives.

Peggy also thought all this was bloody nonsense. No matter how much she liked Diana and how much she trusted her, her faith wasn't Peggy's; which didn't mean that she could explain everything about Diana either. She had no answers as to why Themyscira wasn't on their map, even when Steve had guaranteed he had been there; she had no answers as to why Diana was so _incredibly_ powerful, far outclassing Captain America's own strength, something that should be impossible without the Super Soldier Serum; she had no answers as to how her equipment - an armor that seemed to be made of leather, a sword and a shield – could withstand virtually anything, being as strong as Steve's vibranium shield; and she had no answers as to how her glowing lasso, that Diana claimed it "burned with the fire of Hestia", could force people to tell the truth.

No one could answer those questions, no matter how much they tried, so the Allies simply accepted their very own "Wonder Woman". Few of them really believed what Diana told them about the Olympian gods and Ares, but since her mission of killing Johann Schmidt was aligned with theirs, they had learned to work with her and not ask many questions; hard not to, when the Howling Commandos, with both Captain America and Wonder Woman, were so amazingly efficient at annihilating HYDRA bases.

But even telling herself that all this god nonsense was impossible, it was very difficult for Peggy to deny what her very own eyes were seeing right now.

A thunderstorm being created out of nothing from the hands of a man she thought an ally and a _human_ until that moment, exploding in a flash of light so powerful that the entire top of the mountain on that hangar became dust, the cold air of the Alps invading the place.

Her friend, her _sister_ , Diana matching blow by blow a man… a creature… a _god_ covered from head to toe in a hellish four horned armor that he had summoned from debris around him.

Diana battling a god that had simply withstood every conceivable attack they dealt him, his armor actually seeming to get stronger every time it was hit, absorbing bullets, bombs, fire and even the Tesseract energy weapons in its dark metal.

Wonder Woman and the God of War fighting with all their power, tossing cars, tanks and planes in the air as if they were nothing, moving at impossible speeds, punching each other so strongly that gigantic craters were formed on the ground.

Peggy simply didn't have words to explain what was happening before her eyes. Suddenly, all that "nonsense" Diana told her seemed very real. Ares, the God of War, the entity she claimed was responsible for the evil in the world, was standing right in front of her. Her friend was in a battle for her life and there wasn't a thing she could do to help.

Because apparently, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, gods were very real; and not all of them were benevolent.

* * *

Colonel Chester Phillips was a hardened, gruff and tough old man. A soldier to the bone. Someone who believed deeply that wars were won by the best men and that was why he had worked hard to find and train the best of them.

Captain America was one of them. Steve Rogers. He had trained him since he was a skinny, shorty recruit, who looked like he needed to eat a sandwich more than he needed to be trained. Even though he didn't believe in Erskine's choice, he had respected it and had given everything he had to make Rogers a true soldier.

It worked. Not only because of his training, not only because of the Super Soldier Serum, but because of Steve Rogers himself. And that was the one time Colonel Phillips didn't mind being completely wrong, because Captain America had been a blessing they thoroughly needed in that war.

HYDRA was stronger than they had imagined. While Adolf Hitler could very well end up conquering the world, Johann Schmidt was doing his very best to destroy it. Fanaticism, blind faith and general madness seemed to be the common traits every HYDRA soldier had, but that didn't make them any less lethal. And he wasn't ashamed to admit that things were not going well until Captain America appeared.

And until he brought them Diana Prince, the Wonder Woman, as the men called her.

Maybe it was the old age that had made Colonel Phillips a skeptic. Maybe it was the constant war. But the same way he did not believe in Captain America right up until Agent Carter disobeyed him and sent him on a mission to rescue the men captured by HYDRA and he came back successful, he did not believe a little woman could fight.

Of course, he had completely eaten his own words.

Not only Diana could fight, she was a warrior. Maybe not trained exactly like he trained his men, but honed in the art of war in a way he had never seen before. More than that, she was powerful; now, he couldn't explain why, Howard couldn't explain why, but that little woman was stronger than Captain America himself.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to be able to explain anything, he just needed to point her in the right direction and unleash her upon his enemies. Between her, Captain America and the Howling Commandos, for the first time since the beginning of this fucking war HYDRA was the one being punched in the mouth for a change.

And if he had to listen about Greek gods and Ares and her mission on "Man's World", well… It was a price he could pay.

Frankly, all this god business wasn't his cup of tea; he already had more than his fill with the Red Skull's craziness. But sometimes, even if he would never admit it, he would have liked to believe as strongly as Diana did.

To believe that by killing one man, they could end every horror in this world. That by ridding the Earth from Schmidt they could not only end this war, but every other war. That evil itself would be destroyed and the hearts of men would know only peace.

It was a beautiful belief. He was a soldier to the core, he had fought since he could remember. And that was why he really wanted, even for a second, to believe this could be true; because war was terrifying, dirty and all around horrible and to imagine a world without it would be a blessing.

But at the same time, he knew it was naïve. Diana, for all her competence as an amazon warrior, still was very much a child; untouched by the filthy that surrounded all of them. Even when covered in blood and mud, she glittered like a diamond in the battlefield, a bright sun that would charm his soldiers as if they were seeing the most beautiful sight in the world.

He didn't know from where she came from, how she could do the things she did, but it was plain as day that she was new to this; maybe from where she came from, war was just present in stories. Because only someone who had not seen what people could do to each other could possibly believe that a god was responsible for all that.

No, Colonel Phillips didn't believe in gods; he believed in men. Which was why the sight of that monstrosity battling Diana in the middle of what was HYDRA's last headquarters hangar was so hard to swallow.

He didn't know how to possibly understand what he was seeing. That armored man… G _od_ , was not something he could accept. Because everything Diana had told him, about men's hearts being corrupted by the God of War, suddenly looked much more believable. That _thing_ levitating huge steel beams with his mind and tossing them around was the very personification of _war_.

He could only watch as Diana fought, her fists making sounds like cannons firing when hitting, her legs powerful enough to propel her to the sky as if she could almost fly, her body withstanding blows that could destroy tanks with ease.

Colonel Phillips, for the first time in his life, reevaluated his belief; maybe this _War_ couldn't be won by men. This time they would need a Goddess.

* * *

Howard Stark was a man of science. When he looked at the world, he didn't see the certainty provided by faith, he saw possibilities, questions, puzzles to be solved. He didn't want to hear that it rained because the gods wanted it to rain; he wanted to know how it happened, when it happened, what factors were involved in the process… He wanted to understand every single thing that happened in this world, down to very last equation. And for the most part, he could do it, with different degrees of success.

And yet, no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't comprehend Diana.

She just made no sense. There was no scientific explanation that he could find to explain how she did the things she did. Maybe he didn't have sufficient knowledge yet or the necessary technology to do it, but the truth was that she was one big mystery to him.

That fascinated him.

Her strength, speed and resistance, so incredibly off the charts that Captain America looked a simple man at her side; the way she could fight, always in complete control of everything that happened around her, to the point that she could deflect bullets with her bracelets; which brought into question the very nature of her weapons, made of some unknown material that seemed as strong as vibranium, and a piece of glowing rope that could _force people to tell the truth_ ; add to that her mastery of every single language in existence, be it her capacity to speak them or understand their written form, and Howard had a long list of questions he didn't know how to answer.

The fact that she was definitely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen – and he had seen lots of beautiful women all over the world – didn't hurt his desire to know her better either.

Not that he had any chance with her anyway, he knew that. Being the womanizing idol he was, he had tried his charms on her at the very first time they met; it was simply impossible to resist. Maybe it was the fact that she probably didn't even notice his attempts or maybe it was her innocent look, but Howard immediately felt bad after doing that. Gorgeous as she was, Diana was not like other women at all and that made it awkward to try to seduce her for real, the same thing he felt with Agent Carter. They were his friends, as weird as the thought sounded.

And, of course, there was the way she looked at Steve; and the way he looked at her. Neither of them had noticed at first, but he did. Lingering eyes, small touches, always together… All the signs were there and he wasn't such a bad person to get in the middle of that. On the contrary, he, Agent Carter and Sergeant Barnes had actually tried to help as much as they could; that's what friends did for each other and he didn't have that many to spare.

Which was one of the reasons he was there, at the final attack on the last HYDRA base in the Alps. He wasn't a soldier; he just didn't go to the field, it wasn't his place. But to try to help his friends he had volunteered to go, to help in any way he could, to counter any scientific trap they could run into. He expected a hard battle, lots of gunshots and explosions, a lot of people dying.

He _did not_ expect to see what he was seeing right now.

All those things he didn't understand about Diana, that she had explained to him with her usual "the gods did it", and he never believed it? Well, he was rethinking his position. As scientific oriented as he was, Howard had his limits; because right now, there wasn't a single explanation he could come up with to shed some light in _what the hell_ was happening.

Diana was battling the God of War from the mythology. He had no words to express how earth-shattering to the understanding of the very nature of the universe such a thing was. Because it seemed gods were very real and very present in their lives, even if Howard didn't like to admit it.

Howard had lost his ability to think when the whole thing began, witnessing a man they thought until then an ally simply explode half the mountain with a thunderstorm summoned from his fingers. And that - because _of course_ it was - was just the beginning of all the madness.

While Diana and Ares fought, the SSR engaged the HYDRA troops, Captain America and the Howling Commandos leading them. That is, until Johann Schmidt disengaged and embarked in the Valkyrie, the plane he would use in his plan to bomb the main cities in the world, according to Zola, which forced Steve to follow him in a desperate chase and also embark.

Howard was, right now, trying to avoid the explosions and blue energy shots everywhere, at the same time he calibrated a radio to try and reach Steve; what was proving to be the most difficult thing he did on his life, _because there were two fucking gods destroying everything in sight!_

When Ares began throwing Diana everywhere, her body smashing vehicles and the very stone from the ground, the Howling Commandos focused on him, giving everything they had, bullets and bombs and even the Tesseract weapons they had stolen; the God of War simply stood there, until an explosion covered everything.

And the moment the fire lowered, he walked out, unscathed, and summoned an armor made of debris from the war to cover him.

Howard wasn't ashamed to say he almost had to change his trousers when he saw that and, by the reactions of the people around there, even amongst HYDRA troops, he wasn't the only one. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the Howling Commandos started firing again.

Only to see everything they shot being absorbed by the armor. Not deflected, not simply blocked, _absorbed into it_ , as if every bullet, every bomb, every fire made it stronger than it already was. Ares kept walking, apparently not bothered by any of this, and formed two swords the same way he had made his armor.

"Let's see what kind of god you really are!" he said, his voice making Howard tremble.

Diana started to run in his direction, jumping to attack him, only to be thrown back when he launched his two swords against her. He flew against Diana, forming two other swords, and attacked her, each attack breaking the ground and everything else it hit.

He formed a black chain and wrapped it around Diana's arm, pulling her with force against a cargo truck, her body bending the metal of the vehicle when she crashed against it.

"You will help me destroy them, Diana!" Ares claimed, bringing the chain down in a powerful swing, so strong that it cut the truck in half when Diana dodged. "Or you will die."

Diana yelled in fury and jumped against him, almost flying in the air when they collided, breaking everything in their path. They fell like a bomb back in the ground, getting up immediately, in a flurry of black blades and Diana's golden lasso.

Howard couldn't believe in what his own eyes were seeing. Nothing in his life had prepared him to witness something like this. This wasn't just a simple war anymore; it was a clash of gods and he never felt more insignificant in all his life.

Ares managed to grab Diana's neck and fly to the sky.

"Is that all you have to offer?" he asked, tossing her like a toy right in top of a tank, reducing it to rubble.

With a movement of his hand, he lifted the two tracks from the destroyed tank in air and threw them against Diana managing to wrap her entire body with them and bring her down, immobilized; her body made a crater on the ground.

"It is futile to imagine you can win," Ares said, as he tightened the tank track around her, making her grunt in pain. "Give up, Diana."

Howard could see how desperate Diana was, trying to escape, her breath failing; and there wasn't a single thing anybody there could do. Peggy, Colonel Phillips, the Howling Commandos… They could only watch, helpless, as their Wonder Woman was defeated.

The radio he was adjusting came back to life, suddenly.

" _Come in, this is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?!_ "

Despite the sounds of battle all around, his voice carried through the hangar, making every head turn; including Diana's.

"Steve…" Diana mumbled.

"Steve, are you alright?" Howard asked, after a stunned few seconds.

" _Howard, Schmidt is dead_!" Steve answered.

"What about the plane?" he asked.

He hesitated for a second.

" _That's a little bit tougher to explain._ "

"Give me your coordinates, I'll find you a safe landing site," Howard answered, already trying to remember any known bases.

There was an even bigger pause.

" _There's not going to be a safe landing_ ," Steve said, finally, " _but I can try and force it down_."

"What?! No!" Howard exclaimed, looking immediately to Diana; her eyes were wide with fear.

" _There is not enough time, Howard. This thing is moving too fast and it's heading for New York,_ " he stopped talking again. " _I… I got to put her in the water_."

"No! Steve, listen to me, don't do this, we have time, we can work it out!" Howard retorted, everything else around him forgotten at the moment.

" _Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer a lot of people are gonna die,"_ Howard could hear him breathing. " _This is my choice."_

Howard could hear the engines of the plane roaring when Steve started his descent; he looked at Diana, unable to say anything.

" _Howard. Please tell Diana I'm going to need a rain check on that dance. Tell her… Tell her I lov…"_

The radio died.

* * *

"NOOOOOOO!"

Diana had never felt such pain in her entire life. It was like her heart was being torn apart inside her chest, like the air inside her lungs had become fire, like every fiber of her being was being shattered. No, no, no… She didn't even feel the tears running down her face or heard her piercing yell. She couldn't see anything besides pain.

And _fury_!

She felt her rage take almost physical form and suddenly her restraints felt like nothing; opening her arms with a scream, she ripped the metal apart, a burst of energy flying from her and throwing every single person on the ground, even Ares. Her eyes fell upon HYDRA. It was their fault Steve was dead.

 _They would pay, they would all pay!_

Moving so fast that she glided on the ground, Diana was upon them, hitting, breaking, maiming, _killing_. The fire around her seemed to grow with her fury, making everything a red inferno; bullets and even the Tesseract guns simply bounced on her skin as if nothing could hurt her anymore.

The world was shaking as she destroyed her enemies, as she avenged Steve.

"Yes, Diana!" Ares congratulated, laughing. "Take them all! Finally… You see. Look at this world… Mankind did this, not me! They are ugly, filled with hatred, weak… Just as your Captain Rogers! Gone and left you nothing. And for what? Pathetic! They deserved to burn!"

Diana was yelling as she hurled herself on top of Ares, punching his armored face with everything she had, the ground breaking under them at each blow; and then he retaliated, throwing her to the other side of the hangar with one single punch.

She fell on top of a tank, folding it like it was made of paper. Ares got up and started walking to her, lifting his arm; but, instead of attacking, he looked behind him, to what was left from the HYDRA troops. With a gesture, they were pulled from the ground and tossed right in front of her, their masks ripped from their faces.

"Look at them and tell me I'm wrong," he said, as the HYDRA soldiers got on their knees, terrified. "They killed, they tortured, they followed a man who wanted to destroy the entire world and for what purpose? They are the perfect example of these humans. And unworthy of your sympathy in every way!"

Diana's fury burned inside her as she looked at them; Ares was right. They were guilty of everything. The war, all the innocents dead, Steve… She lifted the tank over her head, her eyes filled with rage, ready to crush them all.

"Destroy them, Diana!" Ares ordered. "You know they deserve it, they all do!"

She looked at their terrified faces, no longer the nameless soldiers now that they had no mask on, crying in the middle of a circle of flames… She closed her eyes, a memory playing in her mind.

" _Diana! I have to go," Steve said, as he pulled her from the ground, her ears ringing because of the explosion._

 _"What… What are you saying?" she asked. "Steve… Whatever it is, I can do it!"_

 _"No…"_

 _"Let me do it!"_

 _"No! It has to be me!" Steve interrupted. "It has to be me. Schmidt is escaping on the plane, I have to go after him."_

 _He looked at her eyes._

 _"I can save today. You can save the world."_

 _Steve smiled and caressed her cheek._

 _"I wish we had more time."_

 _"What? What are you saying?" Diana asked, her heart beating fast._

 _Steve stepped away, ready to follow the already moving plane._

 _"I love you!" and, leaving his compass with her, he turned and went to stop Schmidt._

Diana opened her eyes, all the burning fury leaving her. She looked down at the terrified soldiers, not with the need to kill them all now, but with mercy.

She smiled, feeling a tear running down her face.

"You are wrong about them," she said, throwing the tank down, far away from the HYDRA soldiers and starting to walk in Ares direction.

Diana understood now.

"They are everything you say, but _so much more_."

"Lies!" Ares yelled, summoning a cloud of blades and throwing them against her, as he flew with his swords pointed in her direction.

She didn't even try to dodge. Diana finally understood: she couldn't fight War. The more she did it, the stronger Ares became. The more violence, the more power he had. The more fury, the more his influence spread. Diana was done with this.

Ares's blades never touched her, disintegrating themselves before hitting her; she crossed her arms, focusing her powers on her bracelets, and unleashed it. Ares was thrown back with incredible force, falling on top of a car, losing his helmet.

What was war if there was nobody willing to fight it?

He got up, summoning a lightning bolt from the sky, the electricity dancing on his hand.

"They do not deserve your protection!" he yelled, throwing the spear of lightning against her.

"It's not about 'deserve'," she answered, blocking the spear with her bracelets and deflecting it to the side with ease. "It's about what you believe."

Diana looked at him and smiled.

"And I believe in love."

Ares looked at her with all the hate he could muster.

"Then I will _destroy_ you!"

And the sky glowed blue as he pulled every single lightning bolt from the clouds into his hands. The electricity danced on his body for a second, before he unleashed all his power in the form of one single concentrated lightning bolt.

Diana crossed her arms and blocked it with her bracelets, the power of the attack dragging her back, the ground breaking as she kneeled to support herself; the lightning finally stopped, now surrounding her own arms, as if she had control of them. She played with it for a second and looked at Ares.

"Goodbye, brother."

And saying this, she jumped up, floating in the sky with her arms open, the blue lightning dancing on her body; then she crossed her arms, using her bracelets to deflect the attack back, the huge lightning bolt hitting Ares straight on the chest, piercing him like a spear.

Everything flashed blue for a moment, the entire mountain trembling.

The skies seemed to open after that, the sun shining peacefully on the horizon. Diana floated down, her feet touching the ground softly, as she looked around. Everyone was looking at her: her friend, her _sister_ , Peggy; her commander, Colonel Phillips; her brother, Howard; her best friends and brothers-in-arms, the Howling Commandos.

They had won; she just wished Steve was there, by her side, to see it.

* * *

 **Hey guys, I don't usually do this, normally I talk with you directly via PM, but I just want to say somethings to you. First, this is a new story I'll be working on, it happens in a different universe from Avengers of Steel, just so you know. One of the readers of Avengers of Steel was the one who actually sugested this story (Amir-015) and I began to think about it and finaly came up with a plot.**

 **Now, to those of you who read Avengers of Steel, I just want to say don't worry, because that story still is my priority and I will keep updating it weekly, unless there is an emergency.**

 **This story I also plan to update weekly, but, like I said, Avengers of Steel comes first. But I'll do my best.**

 **Anyway, you guys are awesome, your suport and feedback helps a lot. It's always good to know when your work is being** **appreciated (or not, and in this case why). But I already said too much, please review, favorite, follow... Tell me what you think about this new story. Thanks a lot again.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Paradise Island

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 2 – Paradise Island**

 **Paris, Diana's apartment – December 16** **th** **, 1991**

Diana opened Steve's old compass and looked at it; the needle was spinning everywhere, never pointing North. Lost.

She sighed, looking at her old picture inside it for a second, then closed it, turning and walking the long halls of her apartment. It was a nice place, not too big, compared to what she was used to, but it was confortable, decorated with pieces of art she had acquired all over the world.

Working as an antiquities dealer, and being very good at it, Diana never had to worry about money. Finding lost relics was second nature to her, having the knowledge she had, her gift to speak and read any language and, of course, her other abilities, that allowed her to go anywhere she wanted, no matter how difficult it was to access it.

She liked it, not in small part because she exceled at it. But it was, in the end, just a job, one that allowed her to survive in Man's World and keep an eye in interesting relics that shouldn't be left lying around.

Diana felt like that about most things in her life. Ever since she chose to just… walk away.

A century of horrors. That described pretty well the 20th century. Diana had arrived almost in the middle of it, by the end of World War 2. Ready to slay War itself, Ares, and save Man's World from his corruption. It seemed… so simple. So direct. To do what her heritage as an amazon compelled her to do. And by doing that, ending the terror Ares had spread.

How foolish of her. When Ares told her that he didn't do all this, that this was the work of men, she didn't believe him. She knew that it was his fault. How could mankind be so perverse? To kill by the millions, to torture, to destroy… Men couldn't be responsible for that, it had to be Ares. And by killing him, she would end it, give the world an age of peace and prosperity.

Half a century later she wondered if Ares wasn't right all along.

She did it. She killed Ares. Steve… Steve sacrificed himself to save the day, so she could save the world. Ares had been defeated, alongside the Red Skull and his HYDRA. The War was over, mankind was free from his influence, free to be happy, to live and to love.

Two atomic bombs were dropped in the middle of two cities at the same year, killing thousands. The Allies broke their alliance and entered in a war against each other, a war that eventually placed nukes across the globe, threatening to destroy everything. Dozens of wars exploded everywhere, dictatorships rose, an arms race of the likes the world had never seen took place…

Steve died for nothing. He sacrificed himself so she could kill Ares, to end all this; and she did it. Except it didn't change anything.

Diana simply couldn't go on after that, she had to go away. She couldn't look in the eyes of Howard Stark, a man she considered a brother, when she found out he was part of Manhattan Project, when she found out he developed weapons to feed the arms race. She couldn't continue to fight alongside Peggy Carter, her sister, not when the agency she, Howard and Colonel Phillips had created just forgave the crimes of war criminals, as long as they could help them get stronger.

And Steve… Captain America… Now being used as an excuse to pursue experiments to enhance humans, as propaganda to recruit more soldiers to fight meaningless wars and die meaningless deaths.

War didn't die with Ares.

Maybe it was naïve of her to think it would. Maybe mankind really was guilty of all that. Regardless, Diana just couldn't be a part of it anymore, so she left. Left the name "Wonder Woman" behind. Left her role as a hero. Because there was no way to save Man's World when it didn't want to be saved at all.

Feeling trapped by the walls of her apartment, Diana opened the big windows, feeling the cold air entering. But instead of looking outside, she opened her compass again, her eyes relaxing at the sight of it, not seeing the needle anymore.

Seeing memories.

* * *

 **Themyscira – January 4** **th** **, 1944**

Diana breathed the sea air, closing her eyes for a moment, letting herself calm down. She didn't know what had just happened. She was fighting her aunt, Antiope, training her skills against the best general of her people; and she was succeeding. Words didn't describe how happy she was to finally be able to do such a feat, the result of years and years of hard training.

She managed to disarm her, to win! But as she looked to her mother, to see her reaction, to see her acknowledging how far she got, Antiope attacked her, throwing her on the ground. A lesson, to never let her guard down, to never expect a fair fight; but as she was attacked, as she was cornered, defending herself as best she could with her bracelets, something had happened.

A bout of red energy emanated from her, channeling itself through her bracelets, throwing everyone around on their backs; and almost killing her aunt.

Diana didn't know what to do, not when her mother, Hippolyta, and every single one of her sisters were looking at her with surprised faces; with fear. So she ran. She ran as fast as she could, until there was nowhere else to run to. Then she stopped, at the edge of a tall cliff, looking at the very blue sea down there. And she closed her eyes, searching inside herself for an answer to what had happened.

That's when she started to hear something in the distance. A sound she had never heard before. Opening her eyes, a look of confusion on her face, she looked around, searching; only to see the sky split open and something getting in.

Something falling from very up high all the way to the sea.

Hesitating for one second, Diana started to run and jumped, opening her arms, as she fell all the way down, diving head first in the water. She swam as fast as she could, her body splitting the sea water, trying to reach whatever had fallen before it sank down.

She arrived at the strange contraption right at the time if broke in half, only the tail remaining on the surface. Climbing it, she looked down, to see a person inside the sinking half, eyes barely opened, stuck inside the cabin as everything sank. So she did the only thing she could: she dove back in the water.

Swimming fast, Diana reached the sinking contraption. The clear water and her excellent vision allowed her to see the person for the first time, spotting injuries all around, the legs stuck as the metal bended on top of them. Without thinking twice, she reached for the cabin and pulled it open, breaking the glass, her strength easily ripping the metal so she could release the person.

And as fast as she could, she grabbed the almost unconscious person and started to swim up.

When they finally resurfaced, allowing her to breathe again, she started to swim all the way to the shore, on her back, so the unconscious person could keep the head out of the water. It didn't take long to arrive, and soon she took the first long look at the person she had saved.

Only to be completely surprised by what she saw: it was a man!

Eyes wide, she studied him, seeing his blonde hair, wet from the sea, his strong handsome face, so similar and yet so different from everyone she had ever seen. He was wearing a dark blue outfit, with a single white star on the chest, and carrying a round shield on his back, painted much as his outfit was, in white, red and blue, with the white star in the middle.

Mesmerized by what she was seeing, Diana didn't even notice her hand approaching his face, ready to touch him; and when she did it, he woke up, coughing water.

* * *

Steve came back to the land of the living with a powerful cough, his lungs expelling all the water he had swallowed, his chest hurting; actually, his whole body hurting. HYDRA's weapons had made a real mess on his plane and on himself, his arms and legs had bullets and burns on it, and the fall had probably strained some of his muscles. He didn't know how bad it was, but the fall had been enough to knock him unconscious for a few seconds, robbing him from the chance to try to get away from the folded metal on his legs. He had absolutely no idea how he got out.

Opening his eyes, he wasn't so sure he had got out before drowning anymore; because the sight before his eyes was certainly an angel.

"Wow," he exclaimed, his mind actually numbed by such beauty.

The woman standing over him had to be the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life. Dark hair pulled behind her head, red lips, a fair skin… Steve was awestruck, seeing her beginning to smile while staring at him.

"You're man?" she asked, as if she couldn't believe in what she was seeing, her lips opening to show beautiful white teeth.

"Yeah…" Steve answered, still unable to move his eyes, but suddenly worried he had lost something important during the fall. "I-I mean, do I not look like one?"

She laughed, still staring at him nonstop. Steve, a little embarrassed, looked around.

"Where are we?" he asked, not recognizing the sunny, beautiful place he was.

"Themyscira," she answered promptly.

"Themy-what?!" he exclaimed.

"Who are you?" she asked, ignoring his question.

But before he could answer, there was a sound back on the sea. Both of them turned to see a lot of HYDRA boats coming to shore. As quickly as he could with all his wounds, Steve got up.

"I'm one of the good guys," he said, pointing at the boats, "and those are the bad guys."

"What?" she asked, also getting up.

"HYDRA. Come on, we need to get out of here," he said, grabbing his shield.

"Hydra?" she repeated, looking again, and Steve had the impression she was looking for a mythological monster instead of the feared Nazi division.

Before they could begin to run, however, there was a scream all the way up from the mountains.

"Diana!" Steve and the woman, Diana he now knew, looked up, to see a lot of women appear on the edge, riding horses, wearing armors, holding bows and arrows that they began to pull the strings. "Step away from her, now!"

The woman who had yelled at them suddenly noticed the boats approaching.

"Ready your bows!" the order was yelled, and the warriors did as she asked, the arrows flaming.

"They have guns, right?" Steve asked, suddenly worried about having them face HYDRA troops with arrows.

"Fire!" a HYDRA soldier yelled.

As soon as he did, bullets and the blue energy from their guns began to fly in their direction.

"Fire!" responded the leader of the women, and they shot their arrows.

"Come on!" Steve yelled, pulling Diana with him, as the arrows covered the sky, falling like rain on top of the HYDRA soldiers

His legs hurting, like he had knifes in it, Steve ran, taking Diana with him, until she was safe behind two big boulders. The first soldiers began to arrive at the beach, and Steve prepared himself to fight, making sure first that Diana would stay where she was.

Before he could, however, he was distracted by the unbelievable sight of the women on top of the cliff jumping down, shooting arrows with ropes tied in it against the rocks, and swinging in air all the way down; and every step of the way they were shooting against HYDRA, their arrows dropping them on the sand.

No normal human could do this. He wasn't sure even he could, not without considerable training. Who were these women?

Questions would have to wait, though; as one of the warrior women swung on the rope attached to the cliff, passing right behind them, one of the HYDRA soldiers shot. Steve saw the blue energy coming and he had enough experience to know where it would hit; right on the warrior woman passing behind them. So he did the only thing he could.

He raised his shield, blocking it, the sound of the vibranium ringing in his ears as the energy bounced back to the shooter.

* * *

Diana almost choked on air alone when she saw the man shooting. Her eyes could see the entire movement, the weird blue energy being generated and leaving the odd weapon, the air clacking around it, offering no resistance whatsoever as the pulse of energy flew; and despite seeing everything happening, to the smallest movement, Diana was frozen in place.

Paralyzed as she watched the shot that would kill one of her sisters.

Or at least she thought so; because the man at her side, the man she had saved, acted, instead of just watching it unfold. She could tell he was hurt, she could tell he hadn't seen the shot coming just as she did, and yet he was the one to do something, to raise his shield and protect the amazon, and not her.

The weird shield, made of a metal she didn't recognize, ringed with a very particular sound and deflected the pulse of energy back to shooter, completely vaporizing him; the very fate he had saved her sister from sharing.

As if time suddenly sped up, the amazons landed on the beach, shooting their arrows, killing the invaders; and getting killed as well, when the men returned the shots, metal projectiles and energy pulses flying against them. Almost every single one of her sisters that had come down from the cliff died there, before they could even get close enough to try their blades.

At that moment, before they were all killed, the cavalry arrived, led by her mother, the amazons riding fast, swords and bows in hands. They yelled, riding in formation, beginning to shoot their arrows, each and every one of them hitting their targets; the men positioned themselves to fire back, their weird weapons pointed, but it was too late.

Before they could do anything, the amazons were there, their horses trampling their enemies, their swords slashing, horns sounding. One of her sisters, riding a horse, grabbed the hand of an amazon on foot, giving her the boost she needed to jump in the air to launch two knives against the invaders. The long spears, looking so difficult to handle, seemed to dance in the battlefield, tossing the sand on the eyes of their enemies and blinding them, and then impaling, never getting stuck as the amazons twisted their bodies do pull the weapons back.

It was everything that Diana had trained so hard to do. Everything Antiope had taught her, that she thought herself so good at; she had even beaten her earlier! And yet, while her sisters battled, killing and dying, Diana could only look from behind her boulder.

Suddenly it wasn't children's games anymore. Suddenly it wasn't fun.

She saw Antiope's horse being killed, her aunt flying in air and falling on her back, but getting up a second later. She grabbed a quiver from the ground, sticking the arrows in the sand, as she picked them one by one to shoot, every shot dropping a soldier as she danced in place, choosing new targets.

It was then, as her eyes were glued to Antiope's prowess in the battlefield, that the man she had saved got up and ran to the field, his shield ready on his left arm.

"Stay there!" he yelled at her, running in the direction of an enemy aiming his gun at Antiope.

He hit the man with his shield, throwing him in air; it was then, when the man she just saved began to fight as well, that Diana finally managed to move.

She picked up a bow from the sand, from one of her fallen sisters, and began to shoot the arrows on the ground at the men close to the boats, her aim true every time. The man she saved was in the middle of the battle now, fighting with an ability that she had only thought possible to an amazon. Running out of arrows, Diana took a sword and began slashing, the movements she trained all her life being used for real now; for killing.

She saw her mother jump from her white horse, spinning in air, her sword slaying her enemies with incredibly grace; Antiope kept shooting her bow, every arrow hitting its target, and then, when the arrows ran out, she began to fight hand-to-hand, her fists as deadly as any weapon; the man she had saved fought with ferocity, his shield proving to be a dangerous weapon, his hands connecting against his opponents with strength.

"Shield!" Antiope yelled.

Diana turned to see her aunt running in the direction of two big boulders, bow and arrows in hands, when one of her sisters kneeled and presented her shield as a stepping place; Antiope jumped on it, using the shield to push herself high in the sky, passing over the boulders while turning in air with three arrows ready to shoot; they all hit their targets, dropping the three men hidden behind the rocks at the same time.

She was so amazed to see Antiope doing that, that she committed a fatal error in a battlefield; she allowed herself to become distracted. Turning to go back to the fight, she only heard her aunt yelling, and then a shot; a shot that was destined to her being stopped by Antiope's body.

"NO!" Diana screamed, seeing her aunt drop.

She ran to Antiope, barely seeing the man she saved tossing his shield against the soldier who shot her aunt, dropping him, and punching another one as he passed, running in their direction also.

Diana didn't see anything anymore, not after she touched her aunt and her hand became red.

"No! Noo… No, Antiope! Antiope, Antiope, hey, hey, _hey_!" she felt despair, not knowing what to do, the sight of her aunt dying making her heart hurt, her hands not knowing where to touch. She could only beg, nonstop, as if that would cure Antiope.

"Diana," her aunt said, her hand grabbing her shoulder, her eyes staring at Diana. "The time has come."

"No…"

"You… You must…"

"What? What, Antiope?"

She tried to talk, but her voice didn't come out.

" _Godkiller!_ Diana, go…"

"Go where? Go where?"

"Go…"

"No, please, no… No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, _no!_ "

"Antiope!" her mother dropped by her side, eyes on her sister.

"No!" Menalippe yelled, her other aunt, arriving running and kneeling by Antiope's side.

The three of them could only look at Antiope, the pain of losing a family member gripping their hearts; until Hippolyta raised her head and her eyes fell on the man Diana had saved, filled with fury.

"You!" she got up, taking her sword, eyes fixed on him.

Diana got up fast as well, putting herself between them.

"No!" she said, as the man got back at the sight of the advancing amazons. "No, mother, no! He fought at my side against the invaders!"

"What kind of man fight against his own people?!" Menalippe accused, going to Hippolyta's side.

"These aren't my people," the man corrected, fast, apprehensive. "They dropped me here, tried to kill me."

"Then why did you bring them here? Why were they after you?"

The man hesitated, gripping his shield with uncertain hands.

"I can't tell you that, I'm sorry," he answered, finally, his eyes low.

"You need to tell us now!"

"What's your name?" Menalippe asked, her tear streaked face furious.

"I'm Steve Rogers," he answered, trying to placate them.

It didn't really work.

"We should kill him now and be done with it!"

"If he dies, we know nothing about who they were and why they came."

Everybody looked at Steve Rogers; the decision was made.

* * *

Steve Rogers was in trouble. He didn't know who these women were, he didn't know where he was, he didn't know their allegiances; the only thing he knew is that they blamed him for the deaths of their people and he couldn't very well deny he had blame in it, even if his hands hadn't taken any of their lives.

Could he have fought, tried to escape? The short answer was no. The long? He was in an island in an unknown place, no means to get away, injured and outnumbered by far by a group of warriors who were clearly trained and somehow as physically enhanced as he was; trying to escape, Captain America or not, would result in a very messy death.

And, of course, would force him to fight and possibly kill a number of innocent women whose only crimes were saving his life and having the bad luck of meeting HYDRA.

So when they went in his direction, demanding him to surrender, he did it. Maybe if he could explain the situation, if he could somehow try to make up for what happened, they would spare him and help him to go back to England, where he would regroup with SSR.

His willingness to cooperate, however, didn't mean he understood what was happening in the least. The women, the _amazons_ , had taken him to some sort of throne room; a very beautiful place, built on the edge of a mountain, with three spiraling thrones in the end and a corridor full of chairs on both sides.

Right now, Steve was kneeling before the stairs of the throne, a strange glowing rope around him, the queen in his front alongside princess Diana, the woman who had saved him, and an entire troop of amazons circling him, weapons ready.

The ropes were really hot.

"What is your name?" the queen asked, looking at him with every ounce of authority she had.

"My name is Captain Steve Rogers, United States Army…" he wanted to stop speaking at that point, but something was wrong; the ropes around him seemed to grow hotter and the words just came out from his mouth: "Strategic Scientific Reserve, service number 987654320, 'Captain America'."

He looked to the woman holding the glowing rope, shock in his face.

"What is this?!" he asked, not believing or understanding what had just happened.

Diana was the one who answered.

"The 'Lasso of Hestia' compels you to tell the truth," she explained, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Steve just looked back, jaw dropping; but how?

"It's really hot," he said, lamely.

"It's pointless, and _painful_ , to resist," Menalippe added as a warning.

Yeah, painful, he got that part.

"What is your mission?" the queen demanded.

Steve looked at her.

"Whoever you are, you are in more danger than you think," he warned, serious.

"What is your mission?!" Hippolyta asked again, forcefully; the heat from the ropes doubled in intensity.

Steve didn't want to answer. He couldn't answer. Not only because he didn't know who these people were, and that meant he didn't know who their allies were, but because if they were innocent, as he thought, he would put them in risk. So he kept his mouth shut.

Or he thought he did.

"I was…" he began to speak without wanting to speak; he forced his mouth closed. "I was…" he shut his mouth again.

The heat of the ropes began to rise, his skin beginning to hurt. He closed his eyes, his face contorting in pain. And still he didn't open his mouth. He breathed deeply, concentrating every fiber of his being into _keeping his mouth shut_.

He began to hear murmurs around the room, the amazons shocked at the sight of someone resisting the lasso for so long. Menalippe looked uncertain to the queen, then back at him, without knowing what to do. Diana was fretting.

"Mother, we are hurting him!" she finally said.

"He will tell us the truth, Diana," the queen retorted, "and when he does, the pain will stop. All he has to do is _tell us the truth!_ "

"YOUR DAUGHTER IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I HAVE EVER SEEN!" he yelled, suddenly, feeling his face burn almost as much as the lasso.

There was silence in the room; Steve began to sweat, nervous, just imagining when Hippolyta would pick up her sword and put him out of his misery. He was almost begging her to do it, when his eyes crossed with Diana's, seeing the pink on her cheeks.

"Tell me the truth about your mission!" the queen demanded, wording her request properly now to avoid future occurrences.

Distracted and far too tired to fight, Steve's mouth began to move before he could try to stop it.

"I was tasked to lead the Howling Commandos, SSR best unit, to check a HYDRA facility in Turkey," he looked back at them, eyes wide at what he had just said, incapable of stopping now. "Our intelligence got word that the leader of HYDRA, Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, was acquiring equipment and resources there, which didn't make any sense, since Turkey is neutral in this war and they have several closer countries, friendly countries, to gather whatever they needed. So whatever he was doing there, he was going out of his way to make sure the Nazis didn't hear about it. So we went to investigate."

"What is this Hydra you speak of?" Diana asked, curious. "Not the monster, surely. It has been dead for millennia."

 _What?!_ Steve didn't really know what to say in answer to that statement, so he just answered her question.

"HYDRA is the scientific branch of the Nazis. It's led by Johann Schmidt. They were the ones who developed those weapons you saw on the beach, the ones shooting blue energy. And that was the very reason we were sent to Turkey." Steve took a long breath, his mouth doing the talking pretty much on its own. "Those weapons you saw? HYDRA is the only one who has them. They were supposed to be working for the Nazis, except they are apparently holding these new weapons for themselves. Which was why that when we found out Schmidt was going all the way to Turkey to acquire certain things, we were almost sure that it had something to do with those new weapons. And we wanted to learn more about them."

"Why?" asked the queen.

"Because they are powerful. Immensely so. One shot is all it takes to completely vaporize a person, regardless of any armor. And we have absolutely no idea how." He swallowed, remembering seeing some of his friends dying like that. "If we could know more about them, we could maybe know how to defend ourselves. And Turkey seemed to be the place for that."

Steve tilted his head to the side a bit.

"We were right, they were acquiring equipment to make more weapons, and doing it in secret from the Nazis. But we did not expect the place to be so heavily guarded. We managed to get in, all the way to the labs, and grab the information, but we had to split our ways to escape; I made a distraction so my men could escape and had to steal a plane to flee."

He nodded, remembering the desperate chase, the HYDRA soldiers hounding him every step of the way, firing, even trying to bring him down by clashing their own planes against his. The information they had acquired was, undoubtedly, incredibly important.

"What did you learn?" Menalippe asked.

That was the very thing he didn't want to answer, the very information he had fought so much to keep. So he closed his mouth and resisted, the lasso burning him, sweat running down his face; but they were right, it was impossible to resist.

"Schmidt… Schmidt… Schm… _SCHMIDT_ found something he called the 'Tesseract'!" he almost yelled, the golden rope expelling the truth from him. "I don't know what it is, I suspect not even he does, but he calls it 'the power left behind by the gods'."

What he had just said apparently was very interesting to them, because he could feel them leaning closer, their eyes wide with something resembling apprehension, whispering among themselves, expecting for more; and the lasso didn't disappoint.

"He managed to somehow use this 'power' to build weapons. Those you saw on the beach, yes, but not only those. Bigger ones, weapons even more powerful; weapons capable of killing millions of people! And if we could take this information back to the SSR, maybe, just maybe, we could stop them for good. Prevent the death of millions. It-it could end this war!"

His answer didn't inspire the reaction he thought it would; it had, apparently, just confused them. Diana frowned, looking at him with her beautiful face.

"War? What war?" she asked.

Steve was so shocked by her question that he froze in place, incapable of doing anything else than staring at her; what did she mean "what war?"? How could they not know?

"The-the war. The _war_!" They just looked at him blankly. "The World War, the Second World War! Five years so far, nearly every country in the world involved, over 50 million dead, maybe much more than that, soldier and civilians. Innocent people… Women and children slaughtered! Their homes, their cities and villages looted, burned or taken. Genocide! Weapons more deadly than you can ever imagine! It's like nothing this world has ever seen."

He looked down, the whispers beginning to fill the room, looks of horror in their faces.

"And so soon after the First World War… It's like the world is going to end."

* * *

 _Long ago, when time was new and all of history was still a dream, the Gods ruled the Earth, Zeus king among them. Zeus created beings over which the Gods would rule, beings born in his image, fair and good, strong and passionate. He called his creation 'Man' and 'mankind' was good._

 _But Zeus's son grew envious of mankind and sought to corrupt his father creation: this was Ares, the God of War. Ares poisoned men's hearts with jealousy and suspicion, he turned them against one another, and War ravaged the Earth._

 _So the Gods created us, the amazons, to influence men's hearts with love and restore peace to the Earth. And for a brief time, there was peace. But it did not last._

 _Your mother, the amazon queen, led a revolt that freed us all from enslavement. When Zeus led the Gods to our defense, Ares killed them one by one, until only Zeus himself remained._

 _Zeus used the last of his power to stop Ares, striking such a blow the God of War was forced to retreat. But Zeus knew that one day Ares might return to finish his mission, an endless war where mankind would finally destroy themselves and us with them._

 _So Zeus left us a weapon, one powerful enough to kill a God. With his dying breath, Zeus created this island, to hide us from the outside world, somewhere Ares could not find us. And all has been quiet ever since._

Except not anymore, Diana thought, remembering as if it were yesterday when her mother and aunt told her that story. She was but a child a then, so long ago… And while she knew it wasn't just a story, that it really had happened, it was something so far removed from anything she had ever seen that it might as well be a myth.

But it wasn't. Antiope's death, all of her sister's deaths, proved it. Steve's words proved it. Ares was back and with him would come a never ending war that would swallow the Earth until nothing was left.

How else would she explain so much death? Two wars, not even half a century apart, that ravaged the globe. Mother against daughter, father against son, sister against sister, brother against brother, mankind was effectively ending itself, drowning in their own blood.

They needed to stop it.

She ran to her mother, surrounded by her amazons, while they left the throne room.

"Should we let him go?" she heard Menalippe ask.

"And risk him bringing more men to our shores?" Hippolyta countered.

"We cannot hold him forever, my Queen."

Diana got in the middle of them.

"Mother! Mother, excuse me, but after everything the man said… This must be Ares!" she said.

"What are you talking about, child?"

She turned to the one who asked.

"Forgive me, senator, but the man called it a war without end," she looked at her mother. "Millions of people already dead! Like _nothing_ he's ever seen. Only Ares could do such a thing! We cannot simply let him go: we must go with him."

"I will not deploy our army and leave Themyscira defenseless to go and fight their war," Hippolyta declared.

Diana couldn't believe in what she just heard.

"It's not ' _their'_ war!" she exclaimed. "Zeus created men to be just and wise, strong and passionate…"

"That was a story, Diana! There is much you do not understand, men are easily corrupted" her mother said, turning around and walking.

Diana followed.

"Yes, but Ares is behind that corruption!" she said. "It is Ares who has this Germans, this HYDRA, fighting. And stopping the God of War is our responsibility. As amazons, this is our duty."

"But you are not an amazon like the rest of us!" Hippolyta exclaimed, and Diana felt her words like a slap to her face. "So you will do nothing. As your Queen, I forbid it."

She could only watch, hurt, as her mother left, the amazons following her.

* * *

Steve closed his eyes, relaxing in the hot waters, feeling his muscles stopping to hurt for the first time in a long while. One of the amazons, the nurse or, as she had called herself, the _healer,_ had treated his injuries, removed the bullets and cleaned his wounds; it wouldn't take long for the serum in his body to make him as good as new.

He was thinking about what had happened in the afternoon, in the throne room; the _impossible_ things that had happened there. Steve had seen a lot of weird stuff since he became Captain America, but this island was probably the strangest. For one, he could remember clearly that he hadn't seen any island when flying, fleeing HYDRA; and yet, just as he began to drop, it was like the sky opened and suddenly the mist was replaced by the bright sun and the sight of paradise.

Not long after that, he was saved by Diana, a woman who was apparently capable of swimming all the way from the shores to where he was before he sank, open the steel cabin not even he could open in his weakened state, and swim back carrying him all the way.

And then there was the battle.

Ever since he became Captain America, Steve was capable of things normal people weren't. Erskine's Super Soldier Serum had enhanced his body in every way, to the very cells. His muscles were much denser, as were his bones, he healed faster, had incredible reflexes, was somewhat immune to harmful substances… To someone who couldn't run a few meters without an asthma attack, it had been quite the change. And as far as he knew, with the exception of the Red Skull himself, he was unique.

How wrong he was about that.

Seeing the amazons fighting was like watching an army of super-soldiers in action. It was incredible; and scary. Because he had no idea _why_ and _how_ they were like that. How could they move the way they did, have such strength, reflexes so sharp? Did they have some sort of serum like the one Erskine developed?

And, of course, there was the "Lasso of Hestia". A golden rope that could force someone to tell the truth. Steve didn't have a single theory to explain that one, except magic; and a day ago he didn't even believe magic existed.

Then there was the fact that they didn't have a clue about the war. How? How could they not know? Two world wars happened and they didn't even hear about them; more importantly, the world never heard about where he was either. At least he hadn't.

But he had heard stories about the amazons. Greek mythology, or so he thought. Warrior women of great power. He wouldn't go as far as to say he knew a lot about it, but he was pretty sure he had heard something about them in the "12 labors of Heracles". That was it, that was all he knew.

Well, it didn't matter anyway. He was curious, of course, but it didn't change the fact that he needed to leave. He hoped they would release him soon.

Opening his eyes, Steve looked around, at the beautiful place he was. It was some sort of cave, sculpted from the inside; the hot waters he was in glowed in the dark, flowing to other natural pools non-stop, never ending. It was like nothing he had seen before and he was pretty sure it didn't obey the laws of physics Howard liked so much.

Smiling, he got up, preparing to leave the water; just in the moment Diana entered.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, covering his front as best as he could, extremely embarrassed.

Diana, apparently, didn't share his concerns. She didn't cover her eyes, jumped back or yelled as he thought she would; she just _looked_ at him, her eyes tracing every inch of his body, as if she was studying him.

"I-I didn't see you come in," he apologized, lamely, getting very uncomfortable with the situation.

She didn't answer for several seconds, never stopping to look.

"Why are you covering yourself?" she asked, eyes still fixed on his hands… that were strategically positioned to cover the essential.

"I, well, you are…" he rambled, not knowing how to say it. "I'm… a man."

"I thought we had already established that on the beach," she answered, smiling. "But why are you covering yourself? You have no need to be embarrassed. You have a beautiful body."

Steve just didn't lower himself back under the water because his body wasn't responding.

"Where I come from… I… I mean, we… It's not done. Men and women bathe separately," he tried to explain as best as he could, still unsettled by her non-stop looking.

That seemed to surprise her.

"That is so weird!" she exclaimed. "Here, in Themyscira, we all bathe together."

For the love of all that was holy, Steve begged his mind not to form the images it was already forming; and begged his body not to react to them.

"Would you say you are a… typical example of your sex?" she asked, finally lifting her eyes to look at his face.

Steve had no idea how to answer to that.

"I… I am, umm… Above average?" he said, more asking than affirming, while he tried to reach one of his hands to the towel, accidentally exposing more than he intended.

Diana frowned, her eyes going lower.

"What's _that_?"

 _Oh, Jesus Christ_ … That's when Steve saw she wasn't looking at what he thought she was, but at his compass.

"Oh! It's a… it's a compass," he answered, finally wrapping the towel around himself; he picked the compass up to show her.

"A compass?" she asked.

"You know, a compass, it shows you where to go," he explained. "My father was a soldier, fought in the World War I in the 107th Infantry. Died there. This is the only things I have from him. Good thing it's still working."

She didn't seem to understand all that well.

"But what does it do?"

"It… shows North. Shows you where to go," he said again.

Diana seemed to find the notion hilarious.

"You let this little thing tell you where to go?" she laughed.

Steve caught himself smiling at her beautiful laugh.

"No, it's for me to know where _I_ want to go. I use it to get there."

She returned the smile and there were a few seconds of silence.

"Can I ask you some questions?" Steve asked, taking his chance.

Diana looked at him and nodded.

"Where are we?"

"Themyscira," she answered, fast.

"No, no, I got that before," he said, getting desperate for some clear answer. "I mean _where are we?_ What is this place, who are you people, how are you so strong, why is the water glowing, how come you don't know what a compass is, how can you speak English so well?"

Her eyes widened at the barrage of questions that left Steve's mouth.

"We are amazons," she said, as if that answered everything; but something in his face, probably a pulsing vein somewhere, alerted her that she needed to explain it a little better. "We are the bridge to a greater understanding between all men. The gods created us so we could influence men's hearts with love and help you restore peace. That's why we can communicate in any language." She looked around for a second. "I don't know why the water does that, it always did."

Steve kept staring at her; that didn't answer absolutely nothing.

"Right…" He sighed, looking down for a moment, then looking back at her. "I didn't get a chance to say this earlier but… Thank you for dragging me out of the water."

Diana smiled and nodded, also looking at his eyes.

"Thank you, for what you did on the beach," she said.

Steve felt the guilt inside his chest.

"I'm… I'm sorry for dragging you all into this. I-I never…"

She stopped him and just looked at his eyes; she didn't need words to convey the message. He wasn't to blame. Steve nodded.

"So… Are you here to let me go?"

Suddenly, she was the one looking guilty.

"I tried… But it's not up to me," she answered. "I even asked them to send me with you…" he looked at her and she added: "… Or anyone, an amazon. _The_ amazons."

Steve was still looking at her, not understanding what she was saying.

"The amazons?" he asked.

"It is our sacred duty to defend the world," she explained, looking like she was sorry. "And I wish to go… But my mother will not allow it."

He looked down, picking up his clothes.

"Well, I can't say I blame her," he said, and he meant it. "The way this war is going, I wouldn't wanna let anyone I care about near it."

"Then why do _you_ want to go back?"

Steve almost smiled, remembering having that conversation with Bucky in what seemed a lifetime ago.

"There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them," he said, giving her the same answer he had given Bucky. "If you see something wrong happening in the world you can either do nothing or you can do something."

Diana stared at his eyes for a long time when he said that.

* * *

 **Paris, Diana's apartment – December 16** **th** **, 1991**

The compass closed with a snap; Diana was tired of looking at memories.

She closed the window again, turning around and walking back the corridors of her apartment, suddenly feeling as alone as ever. She needed to find something to do. With quick steps, Diana opened the door to the kitchen, turning her TV with a distracted gesture and grabbing a bottle of wine.

Barely hearing what was being said on the TV, too busy looking for a glass to pour her red wine, she filled it to the top, smelling the aroma for a second with her eyes closed. The brief silence was enough for the low volume of the TV to become the only sound around. And a word caught her attention.

Searching for the remote, her eyes wide as she looked at it, she turned the volume up.

"… _founder of Stark Industries, Howard Stark, and his wife, Maria Stark, were found dead in a car crash_ …"

Diana didn't even notice when the glass of wine fell from her hand.

* * *

 **Hey guys, here is the second chapter! Thanks for the support, I'm glad you liked the first one and I hope you like the second. Tell me what you think about it, review, favorite, follow, PM…**

 **Thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Do Nothing or Do Something

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 3 – Do Nothing or Do Something**

 **New York, Howard and Maria Stark's funeral – December 20** **th** **, 1991**

It was raining. Not a storm, but enough to make every single guest present at the cemetery to have their umbrellas opened. Diana watched, distanced from the guests, as the coffins were lowered, a priest overseeing it; merely a formality, she was sure, because as far as she knew, Howard had no love for any religion.

She had not been present for the wake. Too many people, too many questions; something to avoid when one doesn't age. But she owed her old friend a visit, even if they hadn't seen eye to eye for a very long time.

Standing close to a tree, her umbrella opened over her head, wearing a black dress, Diana observed the whole funeral, her excellent eyesight allowing her to probably see better than the people standing a few meters from the priest. Not that there was much to see now.

Diana felt numb. She had lost people before, obviously, but that wasn't something she could just get used to; no matter how much she wanted not to feel sad anymore. Howard and she had fought after the war – mainly she had fought him – and she had decided to walk away, to turn her back on what she thought was wrong.

But that didn't mean, even for a second, that she had stopped caring about him.

He was her brother. Someone who fought by her side during the War, someone who was there for her when she had lost the man she loved. He took care of her, helped her, dried her tears… And now, after all these years, he was gone. Just like the Howling Commandos. Just like Bucky. Just like Steve. And she would never see any of them again.

Sometimes she wondered who was stupid enough to consider immortality a gift.

Raising her gloved hand to wipe a single tear from her face, Diana turned back to the ending of the funeral; not to look at the coffins, but at the handsome young man close to them. Howard's son, Anthony Stark. How fast time passed… Last time she had seen him, he was small enough to be held by one of her hands.

"He reminds his father, doesn't he?" spoke a voice from behind her.

Diana, of course, had listened to her approach and was not surprised; she smiled.

"From what I hear from the news, more than just his appearance," she answered, turning.

As she already knew, she was greeted by the view of her sister, Peggy Carter. Smiling more than she had in years, she hugged her.

"It's so good to see you again, Peg," Diana said, her face pressed against Peggy's neck.

"It's good to see you too, Princess," she answered, hugging her tightly. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Releasing her, Diana took a step back and looked at Peggy; she was expecting what she saw, but even so she had to control her face not to react. In her memories, Peg would always be the brunette beauty, full of energy, that reminded her so much of her amazons sisters.

Reality was a little different.

Time might stand still to Diana, but it moved continuously to everybody else; Peggy was no exception. While still beautiful, Peggy had aged as any human would. 70 years old now, Peggy Carter had gray in her previously black hair and the beginning of wrinkles on her face. Her eyes, however, were still the same, sharp and intelligent, the eyes of an Agent.

Peggy held Diana's face, gazing at her with a smile.

"You haven't aged a day…" she whispered. "Still the same girl I've seen for the first time all those years ago."

"Well, in my defense, when we met I was already almost 5000 years old," Diana answered, smiling. "Half a century here and there would hardly make a difference."

Peggy laughed and released her.

"I'm glad you came, Princess. I wasn't sure you would."

Diana looked down.

"We may have had disagreements, Peg, but I loved him. The same way I love you. Don't ever forget that."

She smiled and nodded, going by Diana's side to watch the ending of the funeral. None of them said anything for several minutes, only observing as the people began to approach for a last goodbye.

"I already saw too many of these," said Peggy, eyes unblinking. "It never gets any easier, does it?"

No, it didn't, Diana thought. Especially when living for thousands of years was the norm for her and not for any of her friends.

"How is Anthony doing?" Diana asked. "I know asking if he is okay is stupid, but…"

"Jarvis is taking care of him, as I understand," Peggy answered, without looking at her. "To be honest, I don't know how he is doing, not really. I have no doubt in my mind he loved his father, but Tony and Howard's relationship was never the best."

Diana frowned.

"Why?"

Peggy sighed.

"You know, Howard, Diana. He was a brilliant man, a great friend, but most of the time he was an… _utter wanker_. Imagine living with him. Maria was probably a saint."

She couldn't help but snigger.

"And of course it didn't help that Howard decided to keep his work separated from his private life," Peggy continued. "He thought the nature of his work was too dangerous to bring home. I'm sure you would agree."

Diana looked at Peggy.

"But his work _was_ his life," she said.

Peggy nodded.

"Exactly my point," she agreed. "So Howard spent most of his life away from Tony and the little time they shared wasn't… Well, I was going to say it wasn't perfect but we can imagine it was a bit worse than that."

With a sigh, Diana looked back at the funeral.

"I can imagine a little of what is going on in his mind," she said.

Both of them were in silence for a while after that, until Diana looked at Peggy again.

"What happened?" she asked. "I heard it was a car accident, but not much else."

Peggy didn't answer for a long time, appearing to be considering her words.

"Car accident was the official story," she said, finally.

"And the real one?"

She turned and looked Diana in the eyes for almost a minute. Without saying anything, she took a piece of paper from her purse, along with a beautiful golden pen, and wrote something on it.

"If you really want to know, visit me later in this address."

Against her own better judgment, Diana accepted the piece of paper.

* * *

 **Themyscira – January 4** **th** **, 1944**

The funeral pyres burned in the night, the red flames dancing to the tune of the wind. The light of the flames was the only thing illuminating the beach, its red glow coloring the sands; the sound of the sea and the crackle of the fire was all the sound in Themyscira that night.

Diana never thought she would see something like that happen. While she understood the concept of death, it never crossed her mind she would actually see it; and feel it. There wasn't death in Themyscira. She, her sisters, her mother and aunts, were amazons, untouched by time, immortals; they were great warriors, living in a protected island made by Zeus himself. Losing someone was never something Diana had ever feared.

Fearing or not, it had happened; and the soul-crushing pain the poets sang in the stories suddenly made sense to her.

Antiope… losing her aunt hurt more then she could've imagined. Not only because she was family and she loved her almost as much she loved her mother; not only because she had taught her everything she knew about fighting, about the art of war; not only because she was there for her, always, even when sometimes her own mother wasn't.

But because it was her fault that she was dead.

She got distracted in the middle of the battle. The very same mistake Antiope had tried to teach her at that very same day; and she committed it anyway. And her aunt paid the price of her stupidity. Diana never wanted to take something back, to fix something, more than she did now. Even if it meant getting back on time to be shot in her aunt's place, because then at least she would be the one to pay the price.

But that was impossible.

All around, the amazons stood in silence, fully armored, honoring their fallen sisters. To them, Diana knew, death wasn't a stranger. They had fought wars before, survived an era of slavery, fought in a rebellion led by her mother and aunts. Even so, that was a long time ago and even if one doesn't truly got accustomed to losing people close to them, losing them in an era of supposed peace cut even deeper.

Trying to hold her tears and failing miserably, Diana looked to her side, where Steve was. He was also watching the ceremony with a solemn expression on his face, in silence, his eyes conveying understanding even if not the pain her sisters and she were feeling.

"Have you ever lost someone? Someone close?" Diana asked, her voice very low.

Steve turned to look at her and nodded.

"Yes," he said, his voice equally low. "My father, before I was even born. And then my mother."

"Does it ever… stop hurting?" she asked, trying to dry her face.

His face showed a flash of guilt and sadness when he looked at her.

"It does. You'll never forget them, but it will stop hurting, Diana," he answered.

Not knowing why, she held his hand and squeezed for a second, before walking closer to Antiope's pyre.

* * *

Steve felt his heart clench painfully when Diana looked at him with such sadness. Not for the first time that day he was filled with guilt; all those people were dead because he brought HYDRA here. He might not have killed them, but he was guilty of that.

He looked around, seeing the mourning amazons, their faces rigid with pain but not a single one of them loosing themselves to grief and crying, not like the people from back home. They were honoring fallen warriors with the respect they deserved, showing their strength, despite some fallen tears rolling in silence.

"It has been a very long time since we lost someone," said a low voice at his side; the Queen approached and stopped by his side, eyes fixed on her daughter by the pyres. "I never wanted Diana to go through this."

The guilt inside him doubled in intensity when she said that and he opened his mouth, only to be interrupted.

"Do not apologize," she warned. "My sisters died with honor, fighting in defense of their people. You will not make lightly of their sacrifice by treating this as if it were your fault, taking from them the honor they gained."

Hippolyta looked at him, her hard eyes carrying all her authority.

"While I wish you had _never_ stepped on this island, I will not disrespect Antiope and the rest of my fallen amazons by laying the blame of their deaths on your shoulders."

Steve didn't know what to say in response to that, so he just nodded. He supposed he could understand, at least a little bit. Saying it was all his fault would imply he alone could have stopped all this from happening; and this arrogant thought would mean, by definition, that their deaths were senseless and without meaning.

Not something he would ever think, of course, and it was not what he meant by thinking he had blame on what happened, but it was a different culture.

"I understand, your Highness," Steve said after a few seconds. "But I want you to know that if I knew what would happen, I would have crashed in the ocean outside instead of here."

Hippolyta looked at him for a moment, without a doubt checking how true his statement was; whatever she saw in his face, she seemed to believe him. Looking back at Diana, she sighed.

"We never know what lies in the future," the Queen said. "We can only make our decisions to the best of our abilities and live with the consequences. As queen, that's something I understand very well."

She looked at him.

"And that is why I will not allow you to leave Themyscira yet," she announced.

Steve widened his eyes as he turned fast to her.

"Your Highness, I need to go back to my people! The outcome of the war depends…"

"My decision is final!" she announced and he had enough sense to close his mouth. She looked at him and her expression seemed to soften a little bit. "I am sorry but I cannot risk my people anymore."

And saying that, Hippolyta went to her daughter's side, leaving Steve alone. He took his hands to his face; what would he do now?

* * *

 **Themyscira – January 5** **th** **, 1944**

Steve did not sleep well. Not only he felt guilty and sad about all those deaths, but the queen's decision to not let him leave Themyscira kept him awake until the sun was beginning to shine in the horizon. Truth was, Steve didn't know what to do now.

He wasn't a prisoner. The house they prepared for him didn't have bars or a locked door and they didn't even take his things; he was being watched, he knew that, but they didn't restrain him or tried to confine him to one place. That still didn't change the fact that there was no way out of the island unless he stole one of the ships. And not only the ships were guarded, always, but he didn't exactly know how to sail or where he was, so even if he tried to steal a ship, chances were he wouldn't get far. That's without counting that he didn't have supplies for the trip or any way to get them unnoticed.

The war depended on him, he hadn't lied to Hippolyta. Steve needed to get away; he just didn't know how yet. That's why, at the moment, Steve was walking on the island, Princess Diana by his side, while she showed him her homeland.

And he had to admit, even if he didn't want to be on Themyscira, that the island was definitely the most wonderful place he had ever seen.

"That is the temple of Zeus," Diana said, pointing at a very beautiful construction on the side of a cliff, a huge statue of the king of the Greek gods on the entrance. "Zeus was the god who created us. Not only the amazons, but every human. He cared and protected us, until his son, Ares, corrupted humanity with hate and bloodlust and eventually started a war with the other Olympians; a war that ended with the death of every single god except Ares."

Steve listened in silence, not interrupting her to disagree with her religion; he might not believe in the same things she did, but he was polite enough not to claim she was wrong.

"This whole island was made by him," she continued, "as a place to safeguard us from Ares's revenge. Until we were ready to finish this once and for all, using the weapon Zeus left with us, a weapon capable of killing a god: the Godkiller."

He wasn't so sure about her claims about the island being created by a god, but he had to agree it looked like a slice of heaven itself. The city was built with blocks of rocks, seeming to fuse together with nature, allowing trees and even waterfalls pass through it. Immense statues of gods and amazons stood watch, as if gazing at the beautiful sea around them, and even the sun seemed brighter there.

It wasn't such a stretch to imagine that place had really something divine in its essence.

They walked the streets of Themyscira, passing through the people working. They all turned to greet Diana with a smile, frowning when their eyes spotted him; yes, Steve could feel all the love.

"Say, Diana, why there are only women here?" he asked, noticing not for the first time that there wasn't a man in sight.

She smiled; she looked much better than last night.

"We are amazons," she answered, as if talking to a child. "There are no amazon men, Steve. That would be ridiculous," she completed, laughing.

"But then… How… I mean…"

Diana eyed him, until she finally understood what he meant.

"You want to ask about reproductive biology!" she exclaimed, loud enough that a lot of people turned to look. Steve tried to shush her as best as he could, his face flaming. "Well, men are still required for that, you are quite right, Steve."

He wanted to disappear when he began to hear a few laughs in the distance.

"Unfortunately there are no children in Themyscira. Well, except me, I was the last one."

"Then what about your father?"

"I had no father. My mother sculpted me from clay and I was brought to life by Zeus."

Steve had no answer to that.

"Well, that's… neat," he said, feeling like an idiot; she just smiled. "So you never met a man before?"

"You were the first."

Suddenly, the curiosity she had when looking at him yesterday made sense; she wasn't ogling him, she was studying a unique, possibly weird looking, specimen she had found. He didn't know if that made him feel better or worse.

Before he could decide, the sound of metal against metal made itself heard. Seeing his interest, Diana guided him until they left the streets and could see an open place at the side of a mountain, with green grass, two big statues of what he could only assume were goddesses and the breathtaking view of waterfalls and the sea on the horizon.

Steve's eyes, however, weren't looking at the beauty of the island right now; they were fixed on the amazons there, having their combat training.

It was amazing. The grace of their movements, the ability they had with their swords, their speed and strength. He had seen them fighting on the day before, but couldn't fully appreciate how well they did it: they were unnaturally gifted, he had no doubt now.

He saw an amazon leaping in air to avoid a sword strike, turning midair with complete control, while tossing her weapon to another amazon, all in a single movement; amazons fighting on top of their horses, bending themselves to shoot their arrows with impeccable precision; amazons dueling, the clash of their blades basically a blur, while they danced on the battlefield; one single warrior fighting against several using only her bare hands, each blow tossing her adversaries far away.

Normal humans simply couldn't do that. And he didn't know how exactly they _were_ doing that, but Steve had a feeling that if he asked Diana all she would answer was "we are amazons".

"I remember standing right here when I was little," Diana said, making him turn to her, "seeing Antiope training them. I would imagine myself in their places, punching invisible enemies, just begging to grow up fast so I could be there too. To be an amazon." She smiled, as if seeing herself on the past, and then her smile disappeared. "Real war isn't anything like that."

Steve kept looking at her for a few seconds, then turned his gaze to the amazons again.

"No, it isn't," he agreed. "But sometimes we have to fight, so that others can be spared from it."

"Is that why you want to go back so much?" she asked, abruptly; it seemed he was fooling anybody.

He looked at her.

"Yesterday, when HYDRA arrived and your sisters clashed against them, you were safe," Steve began. "You didn't have to get out from behind those boulders and join. But you did, didn't you? Why?"

"Because I couldn't let my sisters fight alone."

"And that is why I want to go back. Maybe the information I stole won't be of any use. Maybe I won't be able to make a difference anyway. But I _have_ to try. I _have_ to be there to fight and, maybe to die, by my friends side. And I couldn't live with myself if I didn't."

Diana looked at him for a long time, then looked back to her sisters.

"If you see something wrong happening in the world you can either do nothing or you can do something," she said, suddenly, quoting his words.

He nodded.

"That's it. That's why I need to go back."

Before their talk could continue, an amazon on the middle of the field noticed them; Menalippe, if he recalled, Diana's other aunt.

"Not training today, Diana?" she asked, raising her voice to be heard.

"I was showing the place to Steve," she yelled back.

"Well, bring him with you. He can handle himself, can't he?"

She turned to Steve, as if asking what he wanted; he reluctantly nodded. Going around the hill, they descended a set of stairs to the training fields below and walked to Menalippe, standing at the center.

Neither of them was dressed for training, at least not like the amazons around them. While Menalippe was wearing her red armor and armed much like her sisters, he and Diana were both wearing normal clothes; not that it had stopped Diana from fighting and fighting well on the previous day. In his case, though, he wasn't so sure the clothes they provided him could really withstand the strain.

The last thing he needed right now was end up naked in the middle of dozens of amazons.

Unaware of what went through his mind, Menalippe eyed him, as if studying every inch of his body, not unlike Diana did on the day before.

"I was not aware that the race of man had grown so strong," she announced, after almost a minute. "I've seen what you did yesterday. You fought not unlike an amazon. And yet the other men didn't. Why is that?"

Diana looked surprised at him; well, she had never met a man before, it wasn't difficult to imagine that she considered what he did normal. Steve thought a bit of what he was going to say.

"When the war began to get real bad, some people on our side decided to try to balance things a little bit," he said after a few seconds. "So they rescued a scientist called Abraham Erskine who had developed something they called Super-Soldier Serum and brought him to my country so that he could help us. They called it 'Project Rebirth' and it was meant to enhance a human to unnatural levels. To make perfect soldiers."

Whatever he said, it seemed to bother both women, Diana specially.

"That doesn't seem like a good thing," she remarked.

Steve half shrugged.

"Well, I can't say I disagree. And while I would've done anything to stop Erskine from dying, maybe it was for the best that the formula for the serum was lost. That man I mentioned, the leader of HYDRA, Schmidt? He was the first man to receive that serum," Steve said. "He forced Erskine to inject it on him. That's one of the reasons he is such a dangerous man."

"Did it work?" Menalippe asked.

"That… That is a complex answer," Steve said. "It did make him stronger, faster, but… Erskine told me, right before he injected me, that the serum amplifies every characteristic of the person. Physical ones, yes, but not only that. He said that good becomes great, but bad… Bad becomes worse. And Schmidt was already 'worse'."

Diana was looking at him as if searching for something.

"And what about you?"

Steve gave a little laugh.

"I was chosen because I was weak," he answered, smiling as he remembered Erskine. "Erskine told me: 'A strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength. And knows compassion.'" He looked at Diana. "I try to remember that always. To not be a perfect soldier, but a good man."

He looked down for a while, a little embarrassed to see her staring at him.

"Well, whoever this Erskine was, I think he made the right choice," she said, finally.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, blushing a little.

A loud clap made him and Diana jump apart.

"Enough talking!" Menalippe yelled, looking at him with irritation for some reason. "You said you can fight, then let's see what you can do. Diana, do you mind?"

She shook her head fast, turning to him and raising her arms.

"What weapon do you use?" she asked him. Steve, a little surprised, took his shield from his back; she raised an eyebrow. "A shield as a weapon?"

"It's not bad," he answered, throwing his shield against a nearby target, bouncing against it, and picking it up again.

The amazons around stopped what they were doing to look at him.

"What is that shield made of?" asked Menalippe, looking at the shield with curiosity. "I've never seen this metal."

"It's called vibranium," he answered, "and according to the man who made it, that is all he had left. It's incredibly rare, supposedly unbreakable."

"Hmm…" said Diana, turning and picking a shield from the rack as well." Shield against shield, can't say I have ever fought like this."

Steve raised his eyes, surprised to see her approaching.

"I-I don't know if it's a good idea for us to…"

Before he could finish, she tossed her own shield against him, not unlike he had just done; he raised his own to defend him, the vibranium deflecting her shield back at her hand; she smirked.

"Now I really want to see how a 'shield fight' is going to be, Steve. Don't disappoint me."

And saying that, she attacked, not giving him any choice in the matter. He blocked her kick, the vibranium ringing loud, and before he would react, she kicked again, hitting his leg and making him twist in air so he wouldn't fall.

As if by reflex, he tried to punch her, slower than he could have; much, much slower. She deflected his arm to the side with her shield and jabbed him on the chin.

It was like being hit by a hammer.

"Don't pull your punches, Steve," Menalippe warned. "You will get her angry and you will get hurt."

He looked surprised at her, cleaning the blood from his face, trying to imagine how such a small woman could punch like that; super-human, he remembered. Woman or not, she was as strong as he was.

Realizing that, he went back to the fight, swinging his shield, trying to hit her; only to see every attack being dodged with ease, Diana dancing around him with grace. Too fast, he needed to adjust his strategy. Jumping close, Steve tossed his shield, bouncing it against the ground and then against her; she defended herself, as he knew she would, but it was only a distraction.

Running to her, picking up his shield in air as he advanced, Steve grabbed Diana's shield, trying to prevent her from moving. She was much more agile than him, much faster, but he still was stronger.

Or at least that was what he thought, right until before Diana discarded her shield, grabbed his arm, and threw him on the air, tossing him with force against the ground.

He hit the grass with such strength that he lost his breath and before he could even think about getting up, Diana punched him; or pretended to, her fist stopping inches away from his throat. The message was clear enough.

"I won!" she said, smiling brightly, as if she was just a pretty girl and not some sort of super-woman who had just beaten Captain America in a 'shield fight'.

Well, maybe he would have to get used to the fact that she could be both of those things.

* * *

 **New York, Stark Mansion - December 20** **th** **, 1991**

Tony Stark looked through the window, seeing the rain falling. The rain was the only sound on the mansion, the heavy drops falling with force.

He still couldn't believe his parents were gone. He knew they were, he saw them being buried, but the fact that they were no longer there still hasn't been accepted by his mind. Instead of sadness he felt dazed; like he felt when he would stay awake for days working on his projects, keeping the sleep away with heavy doses of coffee and energy drinks.

It would hit him with force sometime, he knew that. His mom… He still couldn't believe he would never see her again. To hear her play the piano, hear her sing. Just to be with her. Gone, just like that, in the most common of ways.

And his father… Now, things there weren't so simple. For the longest time Tony wanted no more than to be noticed by him. To be acknowledged. To hear him say, even once, that he loved him; hell, even to hear that he liked him would be enough. He was cold, he was calculating… He was never there.

So one day he just stopped trying. No amount of achievements would get him noticed, no amount of cries for attention would make him care. So Tony started doing the opposite; instead of doing everything he could so his father would give him a second of his day, he ignored him back. Went away, gave up showing affection, did everything he could to distance himself from everything Howard Stark was and wanted him to be.

Some would say that this rebellion was childish and not much different than a refined mode to be noticed. And maybe it really was, but at the same time he wanted his father to be there for him, he resented him in equal measure.

Like he said, not so simple. And now, with his death, he would never know what could've been, would he?

Sighing, Tony turned, walking to the couch and throwing himself there. Obadiah Stane would take care of the company until he was fit to take over; he liked Obadiah, he always showed him more fatherly love than his real father ever did, he would do a good job. And he… Well, he didn't really know what to do now.

Before he could think any further, the doorbell rang; he opened his eyes fast.

"Jarvis!" he yelled.

"I am glad to see your hearing is as good as mine, sir, if you could hear the doorbell as well," said his father's butler, Edwin Jarvis, as he passed through him to open the door.

Jarvis was the family butler since before he was even born. A man his father trusted with his life… And he did as well. Jarvis was the one who was there for him every time his father wasn't.

Tony didn't know who could be entering the mansion now; everybody who had something to say to him had already said it during the funeral. And he didn't exactly invite anyone, trusting common sense to stop them from following him home; apparently it didn't work, because Jarvis opened the door and allowed someone to enter.

He could hear footsteps, a woman's high heels; Jarvis and the woman talking, too low for him to hear; a laugh, as if Jarvis knew well the person who had just got in. And then the steps began to get louder as the woman approached the living room.

And suddenly Tony saw his mystery visitor; and his jaw dropped. That had to be the most _beautiful_ woman he had ever laid eyes upon and he had seen beautiful women all across the globe. It was like she glowed, as if her beauty was too great to be contained in her own body.

For the first time in his life, Tony was struck silent in front of a woman.

The woman however, didn't seem bothered by it. She just approached, no sign of hesitation, until she was in front of him; she extended her hand.

"Hi, I'm Diana Prince. It's a pleasure to see you, Anthony," she said, in an accent he couldn't identify, her voice musical.

"I-I… Umm… Hi!" he answered, wanting to punch himself in the mouth. "Call me Tony."

A few seconds later he realized her hand was still raised, so he hurried to shake it; she smiled.

"I was a friend of your father," she explained.

And just like that Tony's amazement turned into contempt. He laughed.

"I can't believe this…" he said, turning his back to her for a second. "Really? You couldn't wait for one day? My parent's funeral was _today_! My _mother's_ funeral was today!"

She frowned, as if she didn't understand. How stupid did she think he was? A gorgeous woman like that, "friend" of his father?

"This got to be some sort of record, you know?" he continued. "My parents were buried today and not 4 hours later his mistress shows up! What do you want? Money? Jewels? Or…"

He couldn't complete what he was about to say because suddenly the house was spinning around him; he landed on the ground with his face first, and then his arm was twisted painfully on his back.

"Ouch! _Ouch_! You're going to break it… OUCH! I'M SORRY!"

She released his arm and he got up fast, stepping back a little bit, eyes wide.

"So… Not a mistress?" he asked, unnecessarily, massaging his arm.

"A friend," she repeated, disapproval on her face.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry… So that means you're single?"

"Do you want to get hit again?!"

"No! I'm sorry, I joke when I'm nervous," he said, hastily, stepping back again. "Look, let's start over. I'm Tony."

He raised his hand so that she could shake it, praying that she wouldn't flip him over again; to his luck, she just shook it.

"Diana," she said again.

"Please, have a seat," he offered, showing her the table and sitting on the opposite chair, far away from her. She went to the table and sat down as well. "So… You knew my father? My mother too?"

"I knew both of them, but only Howard well," she answered.

"How did you meet him? No offense, but you don't look much older than me. That's why I thought… You know what, it doesn't matter what I thought."

She sighed.

"I've aged well, but I'm older than I look. We… worked together once upon a time."

Tony's mind was filling with questions but before he could ask anything she opened her purse and passed him several envelopes.

"When I heard Howard passed away I took these with me… I don't why," she said, giving a last look at the envelopes. "These are letters he sent me."

He took them with hesitation and opened the unsealed envelope, seeing the old paper of the hand-written letters; his father's handwriting. Tony looked at her again, frowning.

"Why would you give these to me?" he asked.

Diana hesitated for a few seconds.

"Because they are about you."

His eyebrows rose fast.

"About… me?"

"Yes," she confirmed, smiling. "We… parted ways once. We had a few disagreements. But he would always send letters to me, telling me about what he was doing… Telling me about your mother, how he didn't deserve such a wonderful woman. "She looked in his eyes. "And then he would tell me about you. Your achievements. How you made your first circuit board when you were four; when you built a V8 motorbike engine when you were almost seven; when you won the 4th Annual M.I.T Robot Design Award when you were sixteen… How _proud_ he was of you."

Tony could only look at her, the letters forgotten on the table, his voice forgotten.

"I know you didn't have the best relationship with him," Diana continued. "Howard… Howard was a difficult man. _Believe me_ , I know. But I want you to know that even if he still was the socially inept _idiot_ I met and never bothered to make it clear that he loved you… I want you to know that he _did_ love you."

He looked down to the table, feeling his eyes burning.

"So what? What am I supposed to do with this now? Just… Forget everything he did?"

Diana shook her head.

"I'm not here to make you forgive him, Tony. If you do it or not it's up to you. The truth of the matter is that Howard is dead and what you think of him won't matter to him anymore; but it matters to you. Forgive him, don't forgive him… It doesn't matter, what matters is that _you_ find the peace of mind you need."

She got up, when Jarvis got in the room carrying tea; she smiled to him and hugged his old butler as if she was good friends with him. Who was this woman?!

"Thank you, Jarvis, but I have to leave now," she kissed his cheek. "It was good to see you again, my friend."

Diana turned and looked at Tony.

"I hope these letters can give you the same comfort they gave me, Tony. It was a pleasure to see you again. Goodbye."

 _Again?_ He turned to see Diana and Jarvis leaving the room, hearing the door being opened, more questions in his mind than he ever remembered having. But then his eyes spotted one of the letters; tentatively, as if he was afraid the paper would bite him, he took a letter from the envelope and began to read it.

For the first time since he heard about the accident, Tony cried.

* * *

 **Themyscira – January 5** **th** **, 1944**

Diana took a long breath, eyes fixed on the great tower in front of her; the tower that kept the gifts the gods gave to the amazons.

Night had fallen. There was no one around. Diana thought about this all day, even when Steve was by her side. And she had reached a decision.

"Do nothing or do something…" she whispered, taking distance.

And then she jumped from the cliff to the tower, her body almost flying through the night. She reached her hand and managed to grab an exposed block of rock right on time, laughing in happiness; just until it broke.

Diana couldn't help but yell when she began to fall, swinging her arms madly, trying to find a place to hold, but there was none; and that was when her hand broke the tower, her fingers smashing the rock with such strength that it turned to dust. And gave her a place to stop her fall.

Frowning, she looked at her hand sank in the rock, not knowing how exactly she had done that. She was strong, she knew it, but this? Well, apparently she was stronger than she thought. Testing this theory, she raised herself a little bit and hit the rock with her free hand, seeing the tower break with ease.

Smiling, Diana began her climb, her hands digging holes on the tower walls, until she managed to reach the top. Without wasting any time, she got in, walking fast in the treasure room.

The first gift from the gods she saw was the Lasso of Hestia, which she took it, knowing she would need it in Man's World. By its side, there was a shield, made with the power of the gods themselves, indestructible; something she would also need.

Without wasting anytime, Diana jumped all the way down to the bottom of the tower: where the Godkiller was, inside a golden spiral.

That was what she was here for. The weapon made by Zeus himself that could finally end Ares; the only sword capable of killing a god. With reverence, Diana entered the golden spiral, eyes on the sword, and took it, almost feeling its power.

Smiling, she turned and left the room; only to stop again when her eyes fell on an amazonian armor, glowing with red, gold and blue.

Well, she would need a set of armor too.

* * *

Steve shook his compass, trying to make it stop spinning madly. He was on the cave with the natural pools, sitting on the ground after taking his bath, a map opened in his front; he needed to find a way out of this island and he needed to find it now!

He was already wearing his Captain America suit again, prepared to leave. Knowing where to go or not, he would attempt to steal a boat… a ship, and leave. He didn't know if he would succeed, but he needed to try. He couldn't stay there anymore, not when his friends were fighting and dying in the war.

Steve was so concentrated that he almost had a heart attack when Diana suddenly appeared by his side, emerging from the side of the cave from where he could see a cliff to the sea; how did she climb that?

Raising his eyes, he looked at her; and his eyes widened at what he saw.

She was wearing some kind of armor, a red, blue and golden armor… An armor that seemed tough but covered _so little._ He looked at her face, fast, so that his eyes stopped to stare at her legs.

"Ni-nice armor" he stuttered.

Diana looked down at herself, looking proud.

"Thank you!" she said, covering herself better with a fur cape to Steve's relief. She looked at him, her eyes becoming serious. "Now, I will show you the way out of this island… And you will take me to Ares!"

Steve could only stare back.

"What?"

"Did you not listen to a word I said today?!"

"Of-of course I did!" he answered, fast. "But… But you said Ares was gone! That Zeus struck him down."

"And that he would come back someday," she added. "I believe he already did."

He continued to stare.

"Two World Wars! Millions dead! That can only be Ares!" she exclaimed, fire in her eyes. "He is our responsibility. Only an amazon can defeat him: with this!"

She took a sword in her hands, showing it to him with a ferocious smile on her face.

"And once I do, the war will end. The German armies will be free from his influence and they'll be good man again and the world will be better!"

Steve kept staring at her, but now he had a small smile on his face. He didn't know anything about Ares and about being an amazon's responsibility to kill him; but what she said, the fierceness of her belief… It was inspiring.

And, sadly, naïve.

"Diana, I… This war is a big, _big_ mess. And… And I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know anything about Ares being there. Maybe… Maybe you should stay here," he said, finally.

She stared back.

"Do you want to leave?"

"Yes, bu…"

"Then we have a deal!"

* * *

"I'm leaving in that?" Steve asked, eyes fixed on the ship.

Diana jumped of her horse.

" _We_ are," she corrected. "Why, do you not know how to sail?"

Steve opened his mouth to answer and then closed it again, much like a fish would do.

"I know the theory involved," he argued; she smiled.

She started to release the rope binding the ship when the sound of horses crossed the night. Both of them turned to see her mother, Menalippe and six other amazons arriving. Giving a look to Steve, she walked to her mother, a look full of certainty on her face.

"I'm going mother," she said, looking the Queen in her eyes. "I cannot stand by while innocent lives are lost! If no one else will defend the world from Ares, then I _must_ ," she waited a second. "I have to go."

Hippolyta, still on her horse, just nodded.

"I know," she answered, her voice low. "Or at least I know that I cannot stop you."

She got down from her white horse and approached.

"There is so much… So much you do not understand…" she began.

"I understand enough. That I'm willing to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves," Diana interrupted, looking at her mother's face. "Like you once did."

Hippolyta looked back at her.

"You know that if you choose to leave… You may never return," she said, her voice cracking a bit.

Diana was in silence for several seconds.

"Who would I be if I stay?" she asked, her eyes burning.

Her mother didn't say anything for a long time; she got closer, taking something in her hands: Antiope's tiara.

"This belonged to the greatest warrior in our history… our beloved Antiope." She gave the tiara to Diana, holding her hands together with it. "Make sure you are worthy of it!"

Diana nodded.

"I will."

Hippolyta shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"Be careful in the World of Man, Diana. They _do not_ deserve you." She took Diana's face in her hands and Diana felt her eyes fill with tears as well. "You have been my greatest love."

And then she released her.

"Today… You are my greatest sorrow."

With one last look, the tears falling non-stop now, Hippolyta turned back.

Diana, doing her best to hold hers, walked fast to the ship, not daring to look not even once back; because if she did, she wasn't sure if she could leave. Instead, she jumped into the ship with Steve and started to sail.

Sail away from Themyscira, the Paradise Island; and into the War.

* * *

 **Hey guys, third chapter here! Tell me what you think about it, review, favorite, follow, PM!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Jolly Old London

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 4 – Jolly Old London**

 **Middle of the ocean, Themysciran ship - January 26** **th** **, 1944**

"But why 'Captain America'?" asked Diana, sitting in front of Steve on the ship.

Night had fallen and the wind was cold, so both of them were covered in thick furs, not that either of them really needed them. They were on the third week from the trip and, by Diana's estimative, they should arrive in England soon. And because of that, Steve was trying to explain some things to Diana, about who he was and what he did.

It wasn't going well.

"The 'Project Rebirth' that I told you about, the one that turned me into a super-soldier, was meant to create entire troops of super-soldiers, not only me," he explained. "But the scientist that developed the serum, Erskine, was murdered right after he injected me and the formula died with him."

Steve stopped talking for a moment, still feeling angry and, worse, helpless over Erskine's death.

"And according to Colonel Phillips, I was not enough," he continued, after a second. "So instead of sending me to the battlefield, they sent me across America so I could use my image as 'Captain America' to raise enlistment, sell merchandise, help raise morale…"

Diana just stared at him.

"But… how?"

He sighed.

"'Captain America was a… symbol. A character. A face and a name to represent all American soldiers in the war, to represent the values of our country and the American way," Steve clarified. "And I became that character. I borrowed my face to that persona by doing… doing musicals, plays, staring in comic books and radio shows…"

Her face finally showed some understanding.

"So you are an actor!"

"No, no!" he answered fast. "I am a soldier!"

"A soldier, pretending to be an actor, that pretends to be a soldier? Man's World is a truly confusing place, Steve."

Steve raised his hands to his face.

"I am a soldier, Diana," he tried to explain, again. "I trained as one and I was chosen for Project Rebirth to become the first American super-soldier, which I did. But even then, they thought I couldn't make a difference, at least not in the war. So they used the fact that I was the first super-soldier to help the war effort. But that's not what I do anymore."

He considered his words for a second.

"When I was training, in the SSR, there was a woman named Peggy Carter. Well, Agent Margaret Carter, really," he began. "She was one of the few people that really believed that I could be… more than what I was. That I could do more than just… just dance and sing for the people back home. Be more than a lab rat or a dancing monkey. So one day I was going to present a show in a camp in Italy, and the crowd was… tougher than what I was used to. Can't say I was a good performer, but booing and flying tomatoes was a first."

Diana smiled at his self-depreciative laugh.

"Anyway, after I was sent running from the stage, I met Peggy again and she told me that my tough crowd was what was left from the 107th. That the men watching me saying I would punch Hitler in the face had just lost most of their friends in an attack against Schmidt, either dead or captured. "He gave Diana a sad smile. "Not the kind of people that would cheer and clap to a guy dressed in blue tights, saying he would win the war, right?"

She lost her smile and shook her head.

"And the worse part? My best friend, Bucky, was in the 107th. Either dead or captured alongside the others."

"Why didn't they rescue them?" asked Diana.

"Because they were in enemy territory, heavily fortified, and they would lose more men than they would rescue. The mathematics of war," he answered, shrugging; then his eyes ignited with determination. "But I didn't agree with that. Neither did Peggy."

Diana leaned forward, listening enraptured.

"She and Howard Stark, another friend of mine… Well, at least now he is… Helped me to get there, all the way to the HYDRA base. And for the first time I did what I wanted to do since before the beginning of the war: I helped. I found the prisoners and freed them. I found my best friend and freed him. And then I brought them back."

"You found him safe and sound?" she exclaimed.

"Well, not exactly in the best conditions, but alive," he answered, smiling, her good mood infectious. "And after that, the same men who threw tomatoes at me, began to call me 'Captain America', not with disdain, but with respect, and they continued to do so ever since."

She kept staring at him, her smile growing wider.

"That was a truly wonderful story, Steve Rogers. Thank you for sharing it with me," she said and then yawned; she looked at him sheepishly. "I think I need to sleep."

"Yeah, it was a long day, especially for you. I really need more practice at sailing… I haven't been much helpful," he apologized.

Diana just waved him off, lying on the furs.

"Don't worry about it," she looked at him and then to the space at her side. "Are you sure you don't want to lie down, Steve? There is plenty of room."

Steve, against all his willpower, blushed.

"Diana, I already explained…"

"Yes, yes, you are a man and we are not married, but honestly, that doesn't make any sense, Steve. We are just lying down next to each other," she said, staring at him. "Would it make you feel better if I told you I see you the same way I see a woman?"

" _What?!_ No! No it wouldn't..."

"Just like one of my sisters!"

"I'll sleep with you!" he exclaimed, before he could stop, his face redder than ever. "I-I mean… I will sleep next to you… By your side… Only sleeping…"

Diana smiled brightly and tapped the fur by her side; if Steve didn't know any better, he would think she did it on purpose. Well, there was no going back now. Gathering all his courage, he got up and went to her, lying down next to Diana.

She turned to look at him immediately.

"This Peggy Carter that helped you, tell me about her," Diana asked. "She sounds like an amazing woman. Worthy of being called an amazon."

Steve smiled thinking of Peggy.

"That was the first thing I thought when I found out you were amazons," he admitted. "Peggy is… Brave. Smart. Stronger than most men I have ever met. Especially… Well, especially the way people deal with women back in my world."

"What do you mean?"

How to explain this one? He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again; then he tried one more time.

"Women aren't… warriors where I live, Diana. At least not usually. Peggy is a very rare exception," he explained, deciding to not overly complicate things.

The truth was most people on "Man's World" needed a very urgent attitude adjustment when it came to women. Steve had been raised most of his life by a single mother; he knew for a fact that his mother was just as intelligent, resourceful and worthy of every bit of respect as any men. And so was Peggy and any other women out there.

Steve's thoughts, however, weren't the thoughts of most people back home, even from some of the women.

And that… That was really hard to explain to Diana because he was absolutely sure that if a man chose to disrespect her based only on the fact that she was a woman, she would most likely kill the poor bastard.

Diana raised her eyebrows.

"You mean they don't fight?" she asked. "But didn't you say that this war was unlike any other and that you needed more soldiers to fight it? And then you just let half the population behind, when they could be helping?"

Not that Steve agreed with sending women to war, but what Diana said was true; women were as intelligent as men. As capable of learning, contributing to science, to knowledge in general, as any men was. And there were people who believed women belonged inside their homes, to be seen and not heard.

He couldn't even begin to imagine how advanced they could've been if not only one half of the population was given the right to do what they liked to do.

"Most women from where I come from," he began to explain, choosing his words carefully, "were not trained like the amazons were, Diana. They are not warriors. They don't _want_ to be warriors." He sighed. "Back home, there are… roles that most people have to fit. Men are expected to be soldiers or doctors or workers… And women have different roles, like… Umm… actresses or dancers or waitresses… But that is changing!" he said, seeing her eyes widen at each word he said. "They are working to aid the war effort as well, working in factories and in non-combating roles…"

"What are you trying to say, Steve?" she interrupted, getting closer; he opened his mouth and she interrupted again. "Say it clearly, I won't get mad at you."

Steve sighed again, closing his eyes for a second.

"Diana, the place where we are going is not like Themyscira," he answered, slowly. "Women are often referred as 'the fairer sex'. Men often think they are… Umm… fragile and delicate, gentle, meant to be protected..."

"So 'weak'?!" she interrupted again, her voice hard. "I am not 'weak'!"

"I know! I know, Diana, believe me, I know! And I agree with you, completely. This is nonsense. My mother was the strongest person I knew. Peggy is one of the best agents I have ever seen. And you… And your sisters…" He raised his hands, looking at Diana. "Diana, I know you are not weak. Please believe me when I say that. But a lot of people back there will assume that."

"And I'm supposed to let them?!"

"No, you are not. You don't have to change who you are to please anybody else. But I want you to understand that you are going to a place different than your home, with different people that were raised by their parents in a different way. And most of them are _good people_ , they don't mean to offend you or to make you feel less important than you are… They just don't know any better. So please, I'm not asking you to act like something you are not, but don't judge those people too harshly either."

Diana looked at him for a long time without saying anything and Steve was already opening his mouth to try to apologize when she said:

"Then I'll just have to teach them to be better. I can do that."

Steve smiled, truly happy by what she said.

"So, about Peggy… You seem to like her very much. Have you considered asking her to marry you?"

His smiled disappeared.

* * *

 **New York, Peggy Carter's Apartment – December 20** **th** **, 1991**

Peggy placed the tea cup in front of Diana and filled hers, the smoke from the hot drink caressing their noses. Diana had arrived not ten minutes ago, just like knew she would when she invited her; she was anything but predictable, Peggy knew that for a fact after observing her best friend for half a century, but in some ways Diana could be easily anticipated.

"How was Tony?" Peggy asked, sipping her tea.

Diana raised her eyebrows.

"Do you have people watching me, Peg?" she asked.

"Of course I do, I worry about you. But that's not how I knew you were there," Peggy answered, smiling. "You had that look when we were in the funeral. I was sure you would try to approach him."

Diana looked at her for a few seconds than smiled.

"You almost made me forget you are the boss of the most powerful spy agency in the world," she said, tasting her tea as well.

Peggy sighed.

"Not for long, I hope," she answered and Diana frowned; Peggy smiled kindly. "I'm old, dear. I have lived a full life. Time to pass the torch."

Her friend's look was a mix of surprise with barely concealed pain; and it broke Peggy's heart. She was old and she was closer to death than she was to youth, she knew that, and she had accepted it. Peggy wasn't afraid of dying; with the life she had, it was a wonder she got to where she was in one piece.

But she also knew that when she passed on, Diana would be left alone; and who knows for how long?

"But what about the war?" asked Diana, masking her expression after a second.

"The war is already over, Princess, they just haven't announced it yet. USSR has fallen. I did my part, time to live the years I have left with some peace and quiet for a change."

Diana couldn't help herself anymore; she placed her tea cup on the table and looked at her.

"Peg… I-I don't want to see you go too."

Peggy got up and went to Diana's side, hugging her.

"I'm not going anywhere right now, Princess."

They spent almost a minute like that, until Peggy released her and sat down again.

"So, how was Tony?" she asked, smirking mischievously. "Still the same cute little baby you remember?"

Diana sighed, exasperated.

"He is more like his father than I could imagine. Can you believe he accused me of being Howard's lover?"

Peggy choked on her tea as she started to laugh.

"Oh god!" she exclaimed, coughing and laughing. "How hurt is he now?"

"Not enough," Diana grumbled, but she was smiling too. "And, as if that wasn't enough, he asked me if I was single."

This time Peggy couldn't even breathe anymore, laughing for almost a minute nonstop.

"Good to know he has good taste, Princess. Howard would be proud."

Diana just rolled her eyes.

"He is going to be okay, I think," she said, when Peggy stopped laughing. "Jarvis will make sure of that."

"Let's hope so."

They were in a confortable silence after that, each of them drinking slowly.

"I like your apartment," Diana said.

Peggy shrugged.

"It's just a place. I don't think I have a home anymore." She looked at her friend. "You are living in Paris, right?"

She nodded.

"Just a place," she said, repeating Peggy's words. "I'll have to move someplace else after a few years but, for now, it's good enough. I like the city."

"You should move back here," Peggy suggested.

"Maybe I will," Diana answered; and then she sighed, looking seriously at Peggy. "But we can have this conversation later. You know why I'm here."

Peggy nodded, placing her hands over the table as she leaned closer.

"Howard's death."

"Yes," Diana agreed, somber. "Something tells me it wasn't as simple as I'm led to believe. Am I right?"

There was a few seconds of silence, until Peggy confirmed.

"Unfortunately, you are." She got up and opened a drawer, pulling a big envelope from it. She gave it to Diana.

It was a series of pictures from a street camera; terrible quality, black and white, but enough to see clearly the gruesome story of Howard's passing. A car crashing; Howard and Maria crawling out, injured; a man, with dark goggles and a mask, arriving on a motorcycle.

This very same man punching Howard's face over and over until he fell; he placing the body back in the car and walking around it, his hand enveloping Maria's throat.

Peggy closed her eyes for a second, her chest hurting to see these pictures just like the first time she saw them. Diana, however, kept her eyes completely opened, observing every picture for several minutes, studying them like the trained warrior she was, looking for anything that could give her an answer.

"Do you know who did this?" she asked, finally, her voice hard; her eyes moved to Peggy.

Peggy stared back.

"We call him the Winter Soldier."

* * *

 **River Thames, London – January 27** **th** **, 1944**

Diana opened her eyes when a loud horn sounded in the distance. She got up fast, looking around; they were not on the sea anymore.

Their ship was sailing through a large river, circled by a town; a town unlike anything she had ever seen before. Big, grey, packed to the brim with people and all manner of things. The river itself was full of ships, but not like the beautiful ships they had on Themyscira, but metal monstrosities that seemed to exhale black smoke; smoke that took the sky, coming not only from the ships, but from the town as well.

The smell was atrocious, the air filled with toxicities and dirt. The sun was hidden behind clouds and the smog and the very water they were in seemed black with some kind of oil.

For a moment there, Diana could barely speak; what had this people done?

"Good morning," greeted Steve, smiling at her; she looked at him, still incapable of speaking. He pointed to the front of the ship. "We caught a ride, made some good time."

She turned and realized for the first time that there was a big ship pulling them, faster than their ship could sail by a good amount; and, like all the other ships there, it exhaled a tower of black, smelly smoke.

"So, what do you think of London?" Steve asked, smiling even more at her shocked face.

Diana's jaw dropped a little bit.

"It's… hideous," she answered, sincerely, too stunned to be polite.

Steve wasn't offended, he just laughed.

"Yeah, if you compare every place you go to Themyscira you are going to have a bad time, Diana."

They sailed through the river for a good while, until Steve pointed a port where they could dock. He thanked the ship that helped them with a wave and they finally stopped, walking on land for the first time in days.

"Come on, we are going to meet some people," Steve said, leading her, pulling his long brown coat closer around him.

Diana followed him through the streets, her head turning in every direction, trying to understand the place around her. People walked fast, dressed in weird clothes, barely looking at each other. It was loud, as if everybody spoke at the same time, some even yelling, trying to sell things Diana didn't recognize. For some reason, every men seemed to be smoking – cigarettes, Steve called them -, but why Diana didn't know, because that stinking smoke couldn't be healthy for them.

Everywhere was dirty. The streets had trash in them and a horrible smell came from the buildings; there seemed to be a thick layer of that black smoke the city seemed so fond of in every wall. Things were old and badly maintained.

They passed through a street filled with rubbles and broken buildings; Steve's expression told Diana that those things were probably consequences from the war.

Before she could ask, however, there was a honking sound behind her and Steve hurried to pull her to the side; a weird metal contraption, not unlike a carriage, except without a horse, passed through.

"What is that?!" asked Diana, eyes wide.

"That's a car, an automobile," Steve answered, smiling at her surprised face.

"But how does it work?" she questioned; his smile disappeared.

"They seem to run… on some form of… fuel."

Fuel? Looking again to the now distant automobile, Diana concentrated, trying to listen to its noise, imagining the insides of the machine. She could hear faint noises of explosions, metal moving in a synchronized form, chains clacking…

"Are you saying they use some sort of combustion to create small, timed explosions to move the mechanism inside of the automobile and somehow that movement is used to turn the wheels? That is ingenious, Steve!"

Steve just stared back at her.

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant," he said, beginning to walk again. "Careful not to trip."

What kind of incredible machines would Diana see in Man's World, she wondered. Like that airplane that Steve was in when he fell in the island; now that she thought about it, it probably worked in a similar way as the automobile. She smiled and shook her head, amazed with their resourcefulness.

All thoughts about the strange contraptions on Man's World left Diana's mind when she saw something on the other side of the street however.

"A baby!" she exclaimed, astounded.

She passed in front of another automobile without even seeing it, Steve yelling behind her, and arrived in front of a woman cradling a baby. Her eyes could hardly get wider than they were; she had never seen a newborn before and she was speechless at how cute he was!

"Look at his little toes, Steve!"

"Diana, careful! Ma'am, I'm sorry," Steve said to the mother, as Diana approached her hands.

The mother didn't seem offended however, as she smiled at them.

"It is all right, young man," she said, letting Diana touch the baby's fat cheeks. "You like children, young lady?"

"I've never seen one before," she answered and the woman's eyebrows rose. "Well, my mother showed me paintings of me, but I've never seen a baby that wasn't made out of clay."

The woman's eyebrows disappeared under her hair but Diana didn't even notice.

"Oh, Steve, I want one!" she said and Steve blushed for some reason.

The mother's expression changed from confusion to mischief.

"I'm sure your man would love to provide you in that regard, wouldn't you, young man?" she asked Steve and his face became even redder; the woman turned to Diana and whispered, quite loudly: "Between me and you, the trying is the most fun part, so don't rush it!"

Diana didn't really understand why the woman began to cackle, but smiled in response politely, as Steve dragged her through the streets again.

"Diana, please don't run off again," Steve asked, still pink in the cheeks. "You could get… run over by a car or something."

"Don't worry about me, Steve, I can take care of myself. An automobile could never hope to hurt me."

"That's not the po…" he breathed deeply. "Look, we have to go, this way."

Diana smiled fiercely.

"Yes, to the war!"

Steve stopped and looked back at her.

"Actually the war is _that_ way, but first we have to go this way."

"Then where are we going?"

He seemed exasperated.

"I told you, I have to meet my men, let them know I'm alive and pass on the information we got, if they already haven't."

"Hey, hey, hey, no, no, no… I let you go, you take me to Ares," she said, catching up to him and making him stop. "We made a deal, Steve Rogers, and a deal is a promise. And a promise is unbreakable."

Steve looked to the sky and sighed.

"Diana, I told you before, I don't know where Ares is," he said. "I don't even know _if_ he is here."

"Then take me to the place where the fight is the most intense, I'm sure I'll meet Ares there," Diana replied.

He looked at her eyes.

"Stay by my side and that is pretty much guaranteed to happen."

Diana just grinned in anticipation.

* * *

Sergeant James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes emptied his beer mug and placed it back on the table with force. The pub around him was noisy, full of tobacco smoke and music, the dim light letting the place almost dark.

Sitting in the round table with him were Dum Dum Dugan, with his big red mustache and trusted hat by his mug; Jim Morita, the "Japanese" soldier from Fresno, California; Jacques Dernier, the French explosive expert; Gabe Jones, the African American soldier that could speak both German and French; and Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton with his thin mustache and red scarf.

Usually, they were the loudest and most alive people in any pub, especially when they were all together; today, however, the mood was somber.

Steve still hadn't contacted them. Almost a month, after splitting up in the middle of enemy territory, and he hadn't passed through any of their checkpoints. Bucky didn't want to think the worst, but it was difficult not to in situations like these.

They should've never split up. It was a stupid idea and Bucky wanted to hit himself not for the first time for allowing Steve to go through with it. Captain America or not, Steve wasn't invincible and they were as responsible for his safety as he was for theirs.

Of course, for Bucky, things were even deeper. Steve was his best friend since… Since always. He was the one who took care of him back on the days that bullies used to beat him up; he was the one who was there when his mother died; he was the one who had his back, from day one.

And now? Now he didn't have a clue if Steve was even alive. He hoped he was. He wanted to believe he was. But every day that passed without him sending any message made that hope fade, little by little.

"He was a great man," said Dugan, lighting a cigar, looking inside his mug with unfocused eyes. "The best commander I ever had. He…"

"He is not dead!" Bucky interrupted, pissed off.

No one in the table would meet his eyes.

"It's been nearly a month," said Jim Morita, almost whispering, still without looking at him. "I mean…"

"'You mean' what?" Bucky turned to him. "Did he give up on us when we were captured? Did he raise a mug and made a eulogy? Or did he believe in us?"

"He believed in _you_ ," said Dugan.

Bucky stopped for a second, looking back at Dugan.

"And I believe in him. As should you. Steve is… stubborn. Back on the day, he used to get beat up a lot, every single day, in every part of the city. And you know what? I've never seen him giving up or running away. He would always stand up, bleeding, a black eye, and say: 'I could do this all day!'." He passed his eyes through the Howling Commandos in front of him. "So when I say that Steve is too stubborn to die like this, know that I'm telling the truth!"

Saying his piece, Bucky got up from the table and went to the counter. He needed another beer and some time to cool off. The piano was loud on the pub, the man playing some annoying song he didn't know. Soldiers by his side were throwing darts and laughing, some trying their questionable charms on some dames.

Asking for another beer, he turned, seeing a Captain America poster pointing at him; he turned his back on it.

Just as he did it, he saw a woman walk in the pub; his jaw dropped. There was a sudden silence around, the men too stunned to keep talking and singing, all of them, without exception, turning to look at the dark-haired angel that entered.

That had to be the most beautiful woman in the world, Bucky thought. He had never, in all his life, seen a dame so stunning. He felt his mouth go dry and for one moment he considered if that wasn't how Steve felt every time they went out together on double dates, stupid and incapable of talking.

The woman looked around for a second, as if evaluating the place, then walked to the counter; every eye in the pub continued to follow her, but she didn't even notice them. Bucky, on his part, was staring, too perplexed to do anything else. Shaking his head, he took a long sip form his mug, trying to wake up.

She stopped close to where he was, eyeing the drinks on the counter with a tilt on her head. When she got that close was the moment Bucky noticed something… weird about her. She wasn't wearing a dress or even pants, like he'd seen Peggy use sometimes; instead, she was using some kind of cape, made of fur, around her body.

Well, beautiful as she was, she could wear anything she wanted, Bucky supposed.

Drinking he last of his beer, gathering courage, Bucky decided to take his mind off Steve for a minute and go talk to her; he would regret for the rest of his life if he didn't, that was for sure.

"Hi-llo… _Hello_!" Bucky stuttered and he almost turned his back and went away at that moment.

No, confidence, that's key… That's what he used to tell Steve and he apparently decided to be as inept with girls as his friend was, right when trying to speak with the most wonderful woman he had ever met.

She turned to him.

"Hello," she answered, smiling politely.

Bucky leaned over the counter, trying to broad his shoulders so that his uniform became in evidence; girls loved men in uniforms.

"I'm Bucky," he said, smiling back.

"Diana," she answered, looking around the room and not to him; bad news.

"So, what a lovely dame like you is doing here by herself?" he asked, trying his most charming smile.

She wasn't even looking at him.

"My companion told me to wait for him here," she answered. "By the counter, he said, while he makes a call, and to not move."

Bucky's smiled dropped a bit.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

She frowned.

"He is a friend, but he is not a boy," she answered.

"I-I meant if you are together."

Diana looked at him, finally; but not the kind of look he wanted, she was looking at him as if he was an idiot.

"I just told you he is not here."

Bucky closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.

"I mean, are you married? Are you lovers?" he tried to explain.

By the look of understanding on her face she had finally got it.

"Oh no, we are friends."

Bucky smiled brightly again.

"Then do you mind if I buy you a drink?" he asked.

Aaand she was looking at him as if he were an idiot again.

"Why would you buy me a drink?"

He didn't know how to explain this.

"You know… To be… polite," he said slowly.

"Is this a tradition in this land?" she asked, eyebrows rising.

So she wasn't from here; that explained a lot.

"Yes, when a man finds a woman beautiful he buys her a drink," he explained, all smiles. "Then they can dance together, maybe."

She looked puzzled.

"Only if you find her beautiful?" she asked. "But how does one decides who is beautiful or not? Is there some kind of test?"

Bucky was without words.

"It… It varies from people to people, I guess."

"So that means _you_ find me beautiful?"

That was known territory again; he nodded.

"Yes, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life," he answered, quite honestly.

Diana didn't seem impressed by the compliment.

"But what if I don't find you beautiful? What do we do then?"

His smile disappeared and he heard the waiter sniggering.

"You don't… You don't?" he asked.

She eyed him for a few seconds and shrugged.

"I suppose you are pleasing enough on the eye," she answered and Bucky wasn't exactly thrilled with her report, but it was better than nothing.

"Well, that's good! So, can I buy you a drink, then?"

"I don't have money to buy one for you, so no, sorry," Diana said and went back to look across the room.

Bucky sighed, exasperated.

"You don't have to, I'm the one who pays… Waiter! Bring a beer to the lady, please," he said.

"That seems unfair," Diana said, "Are you sure you don't want a drink?"

"No, no, that's quite okay."

The waiter gave her the mug and she sipped it; from her face, she wasn't exactly pleased, but she didn't say anything.

"Thank you" she said, smiling politely.

"So, you are not from here," he said. "Where are you from?"

"Themyscira," she said.

"I never heard of it," he admitted.

"You wouldn't."

He wasn't sure what to think of that statement.

"What are you in London for?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"The war," she answered.

Bucky was so surprised he lost his voice for a moment.

"The… war?"

"Yes, of course," she said, as if that was the most natural thing in the world. "My friend is going to take me to where the fight is most intense, that was our deal."

" _What?!_ "

She looked at him.

"He is going to take me where the…"

"No, I heard you!" he interrupted. "But why in god's name would you want to go to the war?"

"To fight, of course," Diana answered, again, as if he were a dimwit. "Isn't that what people do in a war? You are soldier, aren't you, you should know that."

Bucky was thinking fast, trying to understand the woman in front of him. Was she like Peggy, an agent?

"Do you know Peggy Carter by any chance?" he asked, taking his chances.

The recognition on her eyes told him he had made the right assumption.

"I don't know her personally, but my friend knows a woman named 'Peggy Carter'," she answered, leaning over. "Between you and me, I think he likes her."

What? Who was this man who liked Peggy? Steve was sweet on her, he couldn't let that happen.

"Who is this friend of yours?" he asked.

"His name is Steve Rogers," she answered.

Bucky felt his insides turn into ice. Every part of him that grew fascinated with the woman in front of him turned into caution. Either this woman was joking with him – a very, very unfunny joke – or she was baiting him. What were the chances that she just entered this pub and went to stand by his side? What were the chances that she would just drop his friend's name like that? Was she a spy? HYDRA? An assassin?

He grabbed her arm, strongly.

"Who are you?!" he asked, forcefully.

"Diana," she answered, the looked at his hand. "Unhand me."

"Tell me who you are!" he said, loudly, and a few people turned to look.

She looked into his eyes, her eyes growing hard.

"Unhand me, _now_."

"You are coming with me to the S…"

Bucky never finished what he was about to say, because Diana grabbed his hand and squeezed. Being a man, a soldier and way bigger than her, he shouldn't even have felt that; but he did. He did very, _very_ much. He almost screamed when his bones felt like they would break and released her.

Diana then, proceeded to grab his arm and twist; Bucky was flying through the pub before he could even understand what was happening.

He crashed like a bomb right on top of the Howling Commandos table, his friends jumping behind. Every voice in the bar died and then there was absolute silence; until the legs of the table gave out and Bucky fell again.

It was at that moment that Bucky listened to a voice he thought he would never hear again.

"Diana?!" yelled Steve.

"Steve!" Diana responded.

" _Bucky?!_ "

"STEVE!" yelled every single member of the Howling Commandos there.

Bucky didn't know whether to cry in pain or happiness.

* * *

 **New York, Peggy Carter's Apartment – December 20** **th** **, 1991**

"Winter Soldier?" asked Diana, looking from the pictures to Peggy.

"Yes," her friend agreed.

"What do you know about him?"

Peggy sighed.

"Absolutely nothing," she answered, sitting back down. "And isn't that a novelty?"

Diana couldn't believe in what she was hearing. How could SHIELD know nothing about him?

"How is that possible?" she asked.

"We don't know who he is, to whom he answers to, what is his allegiance," answered Peggy. "Most intelligence agencies don't even believe he exists. He is responsible for several assassinations on the last 27 years." Peggy got up again, apparently too incensed to sit. "We don't know if we are dealing with just one man or a team; if he is really one man then we don't know how he is alive for all this time, maybe it is cryogenics or something else; we don't know if he is even human, Diana! For all we know he could be a god just like you."

Peggy walked a few steps and stopped in front of Diana.

"The last clue we had from him was in the USSR, so he might be from there. Or at least work there."

"If he is from there and the war is truly over, why would he kill Howard?" asked Diana.

Her eyes followed Peggy with attention, seeing her look down.

"Peggy? Why would he kill Howard?" she asked again, forceful.

Peggy looked at her, her expression a mix of fear and remorse.

"Because Howard managed to replicate the Super-Soldier Serum."

Diana was in front of Peggy in less than a second, her eyes hard; Peggy didn't move.

"Did you know about this?" she asked, slowly, eyes unblinking.

Peggy shook her head.

"Please, Diana, believe me. I never knew what he was doing, not until the very night he got murdered."

Diana looked at Peggy for a long time, then she turned; she believed her.

"Just when I begin to forgive him… Why would Howard do this?" she asked, more to herself than to Peggy.

She didn't have an answer. Had Howard really fallen so low? The war was over, they didn't need super-soldiers. Didn't he see how dangerous that thing was during the war? Was his need to develop weapons so great that he just couldn't stop anymore?

Ares had warned Diana of how warlike humans were, long before he started whispering to them, but she never truly believed him; not until now.

"Howard thought we would need it," Peggy said, after few minutes.

"What?" she asked, looking at her.

"Howard knew what this meant for all of us, Diana," she said. "He wouldn't have done that just because."

"Wouldn't he, Peggy? Are you sure about that?"

"No, he wouldn't, Diana. I'm sure. And if you stop for a second to think, so would you."

And Diana did stop, taking a deep breath. Was Howard a self-centric, arrogant and often callous man? Yes, yes he was. Was he a bad man, cruel, ready to do anything for money and power? No.

Diana sighed.

"I just… I don't understand," she said weakly.

Peggy walked to her and held her.

"Me neither."

Both of them stayed in silence, holding each other, for a long time.

Until Diana looked at her, the old fire in her eyes burning again.

"Give me everything you have on the Winter Soldier."

* * *

 **New chapter! Hope you guys like it. Review, favorite, follow, PM... Tell me what you think of it. Thanks for everything!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Clothes Don't Make the Woman

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 5 – Clothes Don't Make the Woman**

 **London – January 27** **th** **, 1944**

Peggy walked fast through the streets, almost running, with a big smile on her face. She still couldn't believe it. Steve was alive! He was back just like last time when he was presumed dead. She was one of the people who hadn't lost faith in the fact that he would return! But still almost a month without contact was far from normal and if she said she wasn't very worried, she would be lying.

"For god's sake, Peg, slow down!" said Howard, walking by her side, breathing hard. "We should've taken the car."

"I don't know why you are here, Howard. Steve called me, not you."

"If you think I'll miss his second return from the dead, you are out of your mind," Howard said. "It's almost a tradition already, isn't it? He gets on a plane, go do something crazy, disappears for a while and then he comes back. Like Christmas! We have a moral obligation to celebrate."

Peggy huffed. She was happy Steve was back but he was making a habit to worry them and that had to stop. Still, Peggy couldn't blame Howard for coming; no matter how nonchalant he appeared to be, she knew he was Steve's friend.

She entered the pub fast, barely noticing the people inside who turned to look. Without wasting any time, she went through the tables, to the private room at the back, where Steve was waiting. The owner acknowledged her with a nod and allowed her to go through. She opened the door.

The sight that greeted her was not what she was expecting.

Dum Dum Dugan was sitting at a table, his face beet red, arm wrestling someone while every Howling Commando cheered and clapped around them. Peggy and Howard stopped at the door, no one even noticing them, as Dugan grunted, applying every bit of strength he had; until his own arm touched the table with a strong THUD.

"Pay up, Dugan!" laughed Bucky, as everyone cheered even louder.

It was at that moment that they moved and Peggy could see Dugan's adversary; and her jaw dropped. She was expecting Steve with his enhanced strength or at least someone as big and muscled as he was. What she saw, however, was a woman. A woman way smaller than anyone there.

A very, very beautiful woman who was smiling at Steve.

" _Yowza!_ " exclaimed Howard and she knew he had just seen the same thing she did.

Everybody turned to them when Howard spoke, finally noticing they weren't alone.

"Peggy!" exclaimed Steve, opening a big smile and walking to her.

Forgetting about the weird thing she had just witnessed, Peggy smiled too, suddenly seeing only Steve now. He stopped in front of her and she reminded the first time that happened.

"You're late," she said, using the same words as last time.

Steve, remembering that too, answered:

"Couldn't call my ride."

They laughed and Steve looked at Howard.

"I've been telling Peg here that you weren't dead, but she wouldn't listen," Stark said, shaking Steve's hand. "You wouldn't believe the amount of shed tears, pal."

Peggy punched him in the arm.

" _You_ are going to shed tears if you keep this up," he threatened. "I will…"

"You are Peggy Carter!" a woman's voice interrupted. The three of them turned to see the woman that arm wrestled Dugan approaching. "Steve told me so much about you!"

The woman seemed truly happy to see her; Peggy wasn't so sure if she shared that enthusiasm.

"Umm, hi, it's nice to meet you…" she greeted her, looking at Steve for an introduction.

He finally realized.

"Oh! Peggy, this is Diana. Diana saved my life, Peggy. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. She…"

"And I am Howard Stark," Howard interrupted, stepping closer from Diana with a smile, his eyes almost glowing as they looked at her. He gently picked her hand and kissed it. "I'm sure you heard of me."

Diana, truth be told, looked completely lost, as she stared at Howard kissing her hand.

"No, not really… Please release my hand."

"I'd do it fast," warned Bucky, watching things unfold. "Last time someone ignored her request that someone was thrown to the other side of the room."

"Someone, huh?" laughed Pinkerton.

Howard, frowning, did as she asked. Peggy wasn't sure who this woman was, but she already had her respect; not only had she saved Steve's life but she wasn't charmed by Howard, which, to be honest, was a rare thing.

She looked back at Diana, studying her with more attention. Peggy knew she was a beautiful woman; she wasn't arrogant about it, but she knew. Compared to Diana, she felt, maybe for the first time, normal. Completely average. And she imagined most women would feel like that, or worse, by Diana's side.

Peggy felt a pang of jealousy.

"Steve, a word?" she asked, still eyeing Diana.

"Oh, of course," he answered, following her to the corner of the room, where they could speak more or less in privacy.

She turned to him, hands on her hips.

"What happened?" Peggy asked, deciding to go straight to the point. "One month. One month, Steve! No message, no contact whatsoever. What happened?!"

Steve looked at her for a few seconds, as if thinking about how to answer this; he sighed.

"You are not going to believe me."

"Try me."

"Okay…" He opened his mouth to start and closed it again, then tried a second time. "You already know I got separated from the Howling Commandos, right? Well, I stole a plane to escape Turkey, but they followed me. We were over the sea and there was a thick mist and eventually they managed to hit and drop me. Except…"

"Except what?"

"Except that the place I fell wasn't the same I was flying over," he said and Peggy raised an eyebrow. "I know, weird, isn't it? But true. Instead of mist, sea and rocks there was a bright sun and a beautiful island. And I saw all that for like a second, until I crashed in the water."

Peggy didn't mask the worry on her face.

"Were you hurt?" she asked.

"Yes, a little bit. Enough to know I wouldn't be able to get out from the plane alone and it was sinking. "He looked to the other side of the room, to where Howard was still trying his questionable charms on Diana. "Diana was the one who got me out. Dragged me to the beach…saved my life."

Steve looked at Peggy again.

"But the things I saw there, Peggy… I don't know how to describe it."

"What do you mean?" He was hesitant and Peggy thought that was very out of character. "Tell me, Steve. I won't think you are crazy. We saw a lot of weird things in this war already."

"I'm not sure… But I don't know what else to call it… It was magic, Peggy."

Okay… So he had hit his head on the fall, probably hallucinated a little. It wasn't uncommon.

"You're thinking I'm crazy," he said.

"No, no… Just traumatized, maybe hurt. And then you saw something weird and thought it was something else."

He stared at her.

"Really? How else do you explain a piece of rope that can force people to tell the truth?"

"What?!"

"Or an island inhabited only by women that call themselves amazons? Women as physically strong as I am."

Peggy just stared back.

"What?"

"You saw Diana, Peggy! Could you arm wrestle Dugan and win? I sparred against her and she is stronger than I am." Now that he had started, he apparently couldn't stop. "The island's name is Themyscira. Have you ever heard of it?... No? Because no one has, I checked. It isn't on any map. And the women there, Peggy… They can fight better than anyone I've ever seen. HYDRA followed me there with their weapons, and were beaten by women using swords and bows."

Peggy could only look at Steve, trying to picture what he was telling her. She knew he wasn't lying and the possibility of hallucination seemed less likely at every detail he shared. So that meant it was all true, no matter how improbable.

"But how?" she finally asked.

Steve laughed a little desperately.

"I've asked that question a 1000 times already. Diana always answers it with: 'We are amazons'. "He scratched his head. "Well, she is something else. Apparently, she was made out of clay and given life by Zeus."

She had no answer to that.

"Peggy, I don't understand it either. But it's true. Diana can show you later, I mean…"

"Steve, I believe you," she interrupted. "We can find out more about it later but I believe you."

"Oh, that's good, I wasn't sure you would."

He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"So… How are things going here?" he asked, after a few seconds of silence.

Peggy sighed.

"Hard. HYDRA is growing more powerful at each day. The information you stole? Howard isn't even close about finding out what it is. All he knows is that Schmidt is using some kind of unknown energy source to create those weapons. And we still have no idea how to defend ourselves from them. The only thing we can do is target the HYDRA bases where they are being built. Cut the root of the problem."

"We can do that," Steve stated and she smiled.

"I know but I'm not sure the Allies will let you."

Steve frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"They want to reassign the Howling Commandos, to send you to the front. They believe Schmidt is a problem, but not a problem big enough for _you_ to tackle. They want Captain America and his Howling Commandos with their troops and not exclusively against HYDRA."

"That's absurd!" Steve exclaimed. "If we let HYDRA develop more weapons, soon we won't be able to fight them!"

"Yes, that's what Colonel Phillips is trying to explain to them. That those weapons will get more and more powerful and soon Schmidt will become a problem bigger than Hitler himself. It's… not going well."

"Why?"

"Because Colonel Phillips is a warrior and not a politician," Peggy explained. "But he has help at least. There is a man in the British government that believes in Colonel Phillips and he has a lot of influence with the Allies. Maybe enough to help. His name is Sir Patrick Morgan."

Steve shook his head.

"I can't believe this. How can they be so blind?"

Peggy touched his shoulder. She was as frustrated with this as he was. If they took the wrong decision… HYDRA would grow unchallenged. Schmidt would keep making more weapons, making them stronger, until nothing could stop him anymore.

"I'd like to talk with Colonel Phillips. And Sir Patrick," Steve said suddenly.

She nodded.

"I think that's a good idea. Your word might be what they need right now."

Steve looked at her as if he wanted to ask something and didn't know how.

"Peggy, could you do me a favor?" he asked, looking at Diana then down at his feet.

Peggy didn't think that was a good sign.

* * *

Diana had never felt so trapped before in her entire life. She couldn't breathe, her entire body felt constricted and too hot. She could barely move; it was a kind of torture she had never experienced before.

"Why do I have to wear this?!" she asked, looking herself in the mirror; a sad looking Diana, wearing a puffy purple dress with high collar, looked back.

Peggy sighed, tiredly.

"Diana, please! You can't go around using that armor of yours!"

"I don't see why not!"

"Me neither!" said Howard, sitting on a little stool. "It was a truly example of beauty and functionality in one package, a badge of honor from her homeland."

"You just liked how short it was!" Peggy countered, angry. "And why are you here, again? To gawk?"

"Well, yes. I'm paying, I should at least see where my money is being spent."

Diana lifted her leg, trying the dress flexibility; the ripping sound told her all she needed to know. Peggy sighed again.

"Why don't you try that one over there?" Howard suggested, getting up and picking something. "A simple grey British tweed suit, skirt and coat, worn over a blouse and cotton petticoat. It was inspired by the military coats. It's not overly luxurious and it can be used for hiking and riding. And maybe we could complement it with a nice round hat. What do you think?"

Peggy and Diana only stared back; Peggy's mouth was wide open.

"How… How do you know so much about women's clothing?" she asked.

Howard shrugged.

"I dated a lot of models. Eventually I have to hear them talking, don't I?" he answered, laughing; Peggy didn't laugh with him and Diana just looked confused.

"Why wouldn't you listen to them talk?" she asked.

"Because…"

"Because he is an idiot!" said Peggy, picking up the clothes Howard suggested. "Try this one, Diana."

Diana picked the clothes from Peggy and went back into the changing room, for what seemed to be the 226th time. Why did these women wear things so uncomfortable? What was the point of covering themselves with so many clothes that even walking became a difficult thing to do? And what was their problem with nudity? Steve seemed just as worried back in Themyscira, she recalled, but Peggy and Howard almost had an attack when she started to take her clothes off.

She did not understand Man's World. It was so different from Themyscira, so full of weird rules. People didn't even look at each other, everybody seemed cold and distant. Women, like Steve told her, were not warriors; worse than that, they weren't even equal as men. Diana didn't understand much of Man's World, but she was capable of observing and some women seemed no more than tamed pets, acting and talking only when given permission.

Peggy wasn't like that. But, then again, Steve had already told her she was different. She would fit just fine in Themyscira. Sighing, trying to forget her homeland for now, Diana finished dressing herself and left the changing room.

Every eye in the clothing store turned to look at her; another thing she did not understand. Was she so different from them that everybody felt the need to stare?

"Wow!" exclaimed Howard, smiling to her. "What did I tell you? You look amazing! How do you feel?"

Diana walked around a bit and kicked the air; no ripping sound was good. Trying a few more moves, she turned and looked herself in the mirror. She liked what she saw.

"I like it!" she said.

"I don't know…" Peggy muttered.

"Oh, come on, Peg! What is wrong now?"

"The whole point of this was to make her less… distracting. Does she look less distracting?" she asked.

Howard looked again at her and conceded her point. He walked to a stand and picked a pair of glasses, going to her.

"Here, let me put this on."

Diana allowed him to put that weird thing on her face and looked at the mirror, smiling again.

"Oh, specs?" said Peggy, sarcastically, as Howard smiled at her. "Suddenly she is not the most beautiful woman you've ever seen!"

"I know, right! It's like she looks even better with them on!"

"Are we done?" Diana asked, almost begging.

Peggy looked at her for a second and then nodded.

"Yes, we are. Howard, your turn now."

"I know, I know," he said, leaving to pay for her things.

Diana was left alone with Peggy, who was looking everywhere but in her direction. One more thing she didn't understand in all this; she liked Peggy. Steve talked so much about her that she felt she almost knew her already. But, for some reason, Peggy didn't seem overly enthusiastic about knowing her. Was this another weird custom of Man's World?

"Peggy, did I offend you somehow?" she asked, always being direct like her mother taught her.

Her question, apparently, surprised Peggy.

"No, why do you ask?"

"You… Steve told me so much about you," she began. "How you are a woman and a warrior, just like me and my sisters. And how rare such a thing is in this land. I thought… I thought we could be friends. I know only Steve in Man's World. But I wonder if I did… something wrong."

Diana sighed, looking down.

"I do not understand this land, Peggy," she admitted. "It's different from everything I know. So…"

Peggy stopped her.

"You didn't do anything," she answered, looking down. "I… I was the one who judged things unfairly."

She frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Peggy smiled.

"That you even have to ask proves how wrong I am." She approached, giving Diana her sword and shield back. "I've treated you unfairly. But… if you let me, I would like to rectify that."

For the first time since the entered that accursed place, Diana opened a big, true smile.

"All done," announced Howard, carrying a case full of clothes. "Bought a few spare clothes too. Don't worry, they are mostly just like the one you are wearing."

"Thank you," Diana said, smiling, her sword and shield in hand.

She turned to leave, only to stop when she noticed Howard and Peggy didn't follow.

"Diana, you can't walk on the streets with that," Peggy said, pointing at her sword. "Let me…"

She turned to one of the attendants and said something; the woman nodded and left, coming back with two big bags.

"Here, put them here," Peggy said.

Frowning, Diana complied.

"Why can't I walk with my sword?"

"People get scared when they see someone walking around with a big, sharp weapon, Diana," explained Peggy. "This is better, trust me. Now let's go, Steve is waiting for us."

Well, if they could finally leave that place, Diana had no objection. Grabbing the bags protectively, since Godkiller was there, she followed Peggy. The three of them got out on the street, walking amongst all the people. Diana still hadn't got used to that; there were too many people there, too many voices.

"Steve told me you are from… Themyscira?" asked Peggy.

Diana smiled; that was the first time Peggy began a conversation with her.

"Yes, Themyscira. Or Paradise Island, as we call it sometimes."

"And what did you do there?"

"I was Princess," she answered and Peggy and Howard were wide eyed. "I helped my mother, trained… There wasn't much to do back there. Most things were taken care by my sisters."

"Princess?" asked Howard. "As in daughter of the Queen?"

She smiled.

"Is there another way to be a princess?"

"That is amazing!" Howard exclaimed. "I've never met a princess before. No, wait, I think…"

"We don't want to know, Howard," interrupted Peggy, looking at Diana again. "Steve also mentioned that you were amazons."

"Yes."

"And that they were as strong as him."

This time Howard stopped, too surprised to continue walking.

"What?!"

Diana shrugged.

"Well, I suppose. But Steve is a very skilled man," she said, not wanting to belittle him. "I'm sure that with a bit more training he would be just like an amazon."

Her words didn't have the effect she expected, apparently, because now Peggy had stopped too. Both of them were looking at her with shocked faces; what did she do now?

Howard raised one single finger and waved it around.

"No, no, no. I refuse to believe in this. You two are having me on."

"I don't understand," said Diana, frowning.

"You are joking," explained Howard.

"No."

"So you really believe you are as strong as Captain America? Someone who has the Super-Soldier Serum in his veins? Do amazons have a version of the serum as well?"

"Oh no, you've got it wrong. My sisters are as strong as him. I'm stronger."

Howard's eyebrow rose.

" _How_ can that be?"

"I'm not so sure, but I think Zeus gave me a bit more strength when he gave me life."

Diana wasn't sure what she said that Howard found so funny, but he started laughing.

"Zeus? As in the King of the Gods? He's a myth!"

"Only because you never saw something doesn't mean it doesn't exist," Diana answered. "You've never heard of Themyscira and I came from there."

"But this…"

"Howard," interrupted Peggy, looking around, her expression serious. "We can talk about this later."

Peggy's voice sounded tense. Howard looked around and started walking.

"Come on, ladies, time to go."

The three of them started walking again, fast, following Howard. Diana wasn't sure what was happening, but she was alert as well; something told her that it had to do with the war. Howard turned into a back alley, he and Peggy searching around, careful.

"Okay," whispered Howard. "We just have to be smart now and not fall into any traps…"

And there was a gun pointed against the back of his head.

All three of them froze for a second; Howard turned, very slowly, until he was looking at the man with the gun.

"Howard Stark," said the man, smiling. "The man who thinks that he can unveil the secrets of the gods."

Secrets of the gods? Steve had said something about that when he was interrogated in Themyscira, about Schmidt believing he had "the power left behind by the gods". Could that have anything to do with the information he stole in Turkey?

While she was thinking about this, three more men appeared, also pointing their guns; Peggy took the hands out of her pockets when one of them was pointed at her.

"Let me guess: Hail HYDRA?" asked Howard, ironically.

The man didn't like the joke.

"You mock things you don't understand. The gods…"

"Which gods?" interrupted Diana. "Do you know where Ares is?"

He looked at her, puzzled; as did Howard and Peggy.

"Well?" she asked again. "Do you?"

Instead of answering her, he pointed the gun at Howard's chest; and pulled the trigger.

Diana could see the bullet getting out from the gun, the smoke of the black powder, the sparks; moving faster than any human could, dropping the bags on the floor and placing her arm between the bullet and Howard, Diana used her bracelet to stop the shot.

The bullet hit the bracelet and fell harmless; Howard didn't appear to have noticed.

"Aggghhh!" he yelled, jumping behind desperately, groaning as if he was really hurt. He opened his eyes a few seconds later and took his hands to the chest, looking for a wound, feeling nothing; until he spotted the bullet on the ground, bent. He looked at Diana, amazed.

The shooter, however, looked at his gun, searching for some defect in it. Nobody seemed to understand what had just happened, not even Peggy, who was staring at her with her jaw dropped.

Of course, when the surprise passed, another man tried to shoot. Moving just as fast, Diana raised her arm and deflected the bullet against his leg, at the same moment she was already moving the other arm to block a third shot. Her reflexes were just too sharp, her speed to great, as she danced in place, using her bracelets to protect Howard and Peggy.

Spinning, Diana kicked the man who tried to shoot Howard in the chest, hitting him so strongly that he flew and crashed against the brick wall. Without giving them any time to react, she deflected another bullet, aiming the shot back at the shooter's hand.

The last man standing became desperate, looking at Diana with pure terror in his eyes. He was pulling the trigger nonstop, except there weren't any more bullets for him to shoot. Noticing this, Peggy hit his chin with an uppercut, dropping him on the ground, groaning.

Peggy and Howard turned to look at her, eyes wide.

"Made by Zeus you said?" Howard asked.

As he did this, the man who had his shot deflected against his own hand got up and tried to run. Thinking fast, Diana got the Lasso of Hestia from under her clothes and swung it, wrapping the rope around the shooter and pulling him back.

The man fell down and Diana was already by his side.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "But you are clearly under Ares's control. Let me help you get free. Where will I find Ares?"

He opened his mouth but instead of words, there was only white foam.

"Hail HYDRA," he managed to whisper before he died.

Diana was shocked.

"No… No!"

Peggy approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Cyanide," she said. "They rather die than tell us anything."

"But why?!"

"Blind faith, Princess," answered Howard, looking the other men, all with white foam in their mouths. "They prefer to swallow poison than betray HYDRA."

Diana looked back at the dead man at her feet, suddenly feeling furious; Ares would pay for what he did to them.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Howard.

Peggy and Diana turned fast, thinking there was some sort of emergency, only to see Howard getting up with her broken pair of specs in his hands; she didn't even notice them falling. Peggy huffed, annoyed.

"And I really liked them on you!"

* * *

"Gentlemen, the threat we are facing is no exaggeration," said Sir Patrick, standing on the middle of the room while talking to a group of generals. "HYDRA may have started as a science division for the Nazis, but it grew to be much more than that. Johan Schmidt is developing weapons capable of a level of destruction never seen before and if we do not stop HYDRA in time we _will_ be defeated!"

Steve was sitting at Colonel Phillips's side, in a room full of Allied military leaders, watching Sir Patrick trying to convince them that the SSR should focus its efforts against HYDRA. Sir Patrick was an important man in the Parliament, a veteran of World War I, and one of the few who advocated for peace in the last war and for a fair treaty when the war was over. Many called him a pacifist, some even called him a coward behind his back, but the truth was, if they had handled things differently last time, maybe Hitler wouldn't have taken power in Germany.

And right now, he was the only ally SSR had if they wanted to keep fighting HYDRA.

How those people couldn't see the danger Schmidt posed to the world he didn't know, but it was happening. They believed HYDRA was a threat, just not one big enough to justify that many resources poured to fight it. And by resources, Steve meant him and his Howling Commandos, Howard Stark and his scientists, and, of course, all the money they needed to function. Instead, they wanted to use the SSR against Hitler himself, instead of focusing only against HYDRA; and that was a very big mistake.

The weapons HYDRA was developing using the "power left behind by the gods" were too powerful. With enough weapons like those, Schmidt soon would be a threat greater than the Nazis; and by that point it would be impossible to stop him.

But it was difficult to convince the rest of the military leaders of that, when Hitler was marching against their countries and bombing their cities.

"The SSR was created with the sole purpose of countering HYDRA," Sir Patrick continued, walking around the room with his cane. "If we stretch their forces thin, they won't be able to do that. We need…"

"Captain America is needed elsewhere!" interrupted one of the officers. "The Nazis are growing bold at every battle they win and they are winning a lot of them!"

There was a ripple of agreement in the room; Colonel Phillips sighed. He, Steve and Sir Patrick were probably the only ones there who realized the true nature of the threat and they were outnumbered by a lot.

Soon, Sir Patrick wasn't able to talk anymore, the chatter in the room louder than his voice. While the civilized talking devolved into a screaming match, Steve saw the door opening and Peggy, Howard and Diana entering unnoticed; he did a double take when he saw Diana. Didn't he explain to Peggy she needed to be _less_ distracting?

Shaking his head, he forced himself to forget about Diana for a second and got up; if he didn't say anything right now, he wouldn't get the chance.

"Gentlemen! Please… GENTLEMEN!" he said, raising his voice. There was silence in the room, as everyone turned to look at him. "I'd like to say a few words, if you'll allow me. The SSR has been fighting HYDRA since the beginning of this war. If there is anyone that knows the danger they pose to the free world, is Colonel Phillips. And yet you've been ignoring what he has to say."

"It's not a matter of…"

"I'm not finished," Steve interrupted, maybe a little too harshly, but it was needed. "I saw what HYDRA is capable of as well. I fought against them more times than I can count. So please, listen to what I have to say too. "He looked around the room, seeing every eye on him. "Schmidt is not just a pawn. Hitler thought he was using Schmidt to develop weapons, but it is the other way around. HYDRA is growing inside the Nazis like a parasite and soon they will become even more powerful. How? The answer to that is long but I'll shorten it: powerful weapons.

"Sir Patrick already explained to us the so called powerful equipment HYDRA has," said one man. "We have yet to see a weapon such as this."

"Exactly," Steve agreed, surprising the man. "You haven't seen them. Weapons capable of vaporizing a man, no matter what protection he is wearing, with one shot. Weapons of the size of rifles that can destroy entire tanks. Cannons capable of blowing up military bases in a few shots."

He stared at the man for a few seconds, then moved his eyes to the rest of the room.

"The Nazis are not using these weapons and yet they do exist. Why is that?" Steve asked. "Because HYDRA is keeping them for themselves. Now I ask you: are we going to focus all our efforts against Hitler and leave HYDRA alone, so it can grow stronger? Is that a wise move? While we kill each other, Schmidt will make more and more weapons, stronger at each time. And when the time to fight comes we won't be able to do anything."

The silence in the room grew thick as nobody said anything in response. The military leaders just looked down, hopefully thinking about what Steve had said. Colonel Phillips even patted his back, as Sir Patrick nodded to him with a smile.

Steve's hope began to grow; and crashed down just as quickly.

"You may be right, Captain Rogers," said a general whose name Steve didn't know. "But Hitler is a threat right now. If we don't fight against him with everything we have, if we divide our forces between too many enemies, there is a big chance that we won't win on any front."

The people in the room began to whisper in agreement and Steve knew he had lost. Sighing, he sat down.

"How can you simply ignore what your best soldier just told you?!" asked a voice Steve knew very well.

He, and everyone else, looked at Diana who was walking to the middle of the room despite Peggy's desperate attempts to stop her. The amazon princess looked around, ignoring the wide eyed stares.

"I've seen what HYDRA can do!" she stated. "How powerful their weapons are. I have seen some of the best warriors I've known fall against such weapons! If we do not destroy them, they will destroy everything!"

Murmurs began to spread around the room, asking who that woman was. Steve could see Colonel Phillips staring with his mouth agape and Sir Patrick watching her wide eyed with surprise.

"Ma'am, you were not invited to this…"

"My sisters died by the hands of HYDRA!" she yelled to the man that tried to stop her. "I was there, I saw it with my own eyes how dangerous they are! If you claim to not have seen anything, then maybe it would be a good idea to get up and go fight alongside your warriors, instead of _hiding in this room!_ "

Okay, time to get her out before she was arrested; or, more likely, before some poor soul _tried_ to arrest her. Steve got up fast and went by Diana's side, stopping her from continuing and trying to guide her out of the room.

"Steve, they can't…"

"Diana, please! This is not how we are going to win this," Steve whispered, because dragging her was proving to be impossible. "Let's talk outside."

She didn't seem convinced in the least but the very fact that Steve was able to move her proved she was listening. They got out as the people in the room started to speak louder and louder, and closed the door behind them

"What they are doing is stupid!" Diana exclaimed, pointing at the room; Peggy and Howard opened the door and came to them as she said that. "HYDRA has the power left behind by the gods! That's certainly Ares's doing!"

"Diana!" Steve said, forcefully. "I know they are wrong! But yelling at them won't change anything!"

Diana stopped, looking at him without understanding.

"But…"

"Captain Rogers is correct, Miss…"

Both of them turned to see Sir Patrick approaching them, walking with the help of his cane, Colonel Phillips at his side.

"Diana, Princess of…"

"Diana Prince!" Steve interrupted, fast. "She… She saved my life, sir. Helped me to get back here."

"It is a pleasure, Miss Prince," Sir Patrick greeted her, with a respectful bow. "Like I was saying, Captain Rogers is right. The people inside that room were not interested in listening to us, their decision was already made."

"But if we not…"

Steve grabbed Diana's hand, stopping her from interrupting Sir Patrick.

"That said, we can certainly try to change their minds," he added, turning to Colonel Phillips. "I was just telling Colonel Phillips about a discovery made by the British Intelligence. It seems that a large quantity of the same equipment you found in Turkey was recently being moved to Poland. To a town called Lublin."

"How much was being moved?" asked Howard, approaching.

"A lot more than what you found in Turkey," Sir Patrick answered, giving him a list.

Howard frowned while he read, thinking out loud.

"High doses… Batteries… Pieces of… That's not right," he finally said, looking back at them.

"What isn't?" asked Peggy.

"The equipment they are moving there… It seems it will be used to build something _much bigger_ than a riffle," Howard answered, ominously.

Steve felt himself fill with dread. One shot of those weapons was enough to destroy an entire tank; what could they possibly do with something more powerful?

"Those bastards are building something way more dangerous than the weapons we've already seen," said Colonel Phillips. "Something that may change the course of the war. With permission or not, we are going there and we are going to stop them."

"And, when you do, bring proof," added Sir Patrick, quickly. "The weapon itself, pieces of it, the plans, the scientists involved… Anything that can prove just how powerful HYDRA is becoming. Then we can finally convince them how badly the world needs the SSR to fight HYDRA."

Steve looked at Colonel Phillips.

"Sir, are you actually telling us to disobey them?" he asked, uncertain.

Colonel Phillips looked from him to Sir Patrick.

"I don't know what you are talking about, son. Do you?"

"I heard nothing of the sort," answered Sir Patrick. "And I certainly didn't hear anything about the possible routes that British Intelligence has found for you to cross enemy territory, that were sent to the SSR's HQ. Have a good day, ladies and gentlemen."

And saying that, he left. Howard turned to them.

"I like him!" he exclaimed, then tapped his own head. "Oh, and by the way, we were just attacked by HYDRA assassins."

"What?!" asked Steve, looking at Peggy. "Are you alright?"

Before she could answer, Howard said:

"We are fine! Princess here beat them senseless!"

"What?!"

Colonel Phillips turned to look at Diana, his eyes serious; then he looked at Steve.

"You have a lot of things to explain, son."

* * *

 **Russia, Unknown Location – March 17** **th** **, 1992**

The alarms of the underground base were blaring nonstop. Explosions and gunshots made the entire facility tremble. People were screaming. Colonel General Georgi Luchkov couldn't believe what was happening, as he looked around the sealed room he and his officers were.

" _Sir, we are being overwhelmed!_ " yelled one soldier through the radio. " _The blast doors were obliterated!_ "

That was impossible. Those doors were built to withstand missiles!

"How did she do this?!" he yelled back.

" _She… She ripped them apart!_ "

He looked at his men, wondering if they had listened to the same thing he had; their skull-white faces told him they had.

" _Level One is lost! I repeat, Level One is lost!"_

"Send everyone there! Stop her!"

" _We are tryin… Level Two is lost!_ "

How could that be?! Luchkov was sweating even in the cold room. He had heard stories, myths, of a goddess during the World War II. Of a Wonder Woman leading the Allied forces against the Nazis. Of a… _Godkiller_! But of course, he never believed the stories. How could he? Tales that soldiers made up to frighten Nazis, nothing more than that.

Except it was true. And she was here.

 _"Level three is lost! OH MY GOD… Aggghhh!_

The radio died. Without noticing, he dropped it on the ground, his hands trembling. He knew he should have never sold weapons to that accursed woman. But the opportunity was too lucrative to pass! When USSR fell, the army was in disarray; no one would notice if a few, or a lot, of the weapons disappeared. So the high-ranked officers used that to make money. To grow powerful. So when she appeared to him… Offering more money than he had ever dreamt of having, there was no way to refuse.

He should've known better than to sell to a Nazi.

He should've known that if it seemed too good to be true, it was because it was.

He should've known that Godkiller wasn't a myth; and that she would come for him.

 _BOOOM!_

The stone ceiling of the underground room cracked and fell apart; the lights turned off. He could only hear the screams, the gunshots, the slashing sounds… Until there was nothing else to hear.

There was a glowing golden light and suddenly he was in the air; a powerful hit tossed him down against the ground.

He felt a sword against his neck.

"Now, you are going to answer my questions," said a cold voice, speaking perfect Russian.

Colonel General Georgi Luchkov couldn't have refused her even if he wanted to.

* * *

 **New chapter! Sorry for the delay, but like I said on Avengers of Steel, I'm dealing with some personal problems and things are difficult right now.**

 **Now, to good news: I got a Beta Reader to this story! Very nice guy, helped me a lot. His name is Moritaka1900. He is a writer too, check his stories when you have the time!**

 **Anyway, review, favorite, follow… Thanks for everything!**


	6. Chapter 6 - A Deal is a Promise

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 6 – A Deal is a Promise**

 **Russia, Unknown Location – March 17** **th** **, 1992**

Diana looked down at the tied up man in front of her. The damage she had caused to the bunker had left it in darkness, only the occasional sparks illuminating the room, but that was no problem for her perfect vision; the golden glow of her lasso offered more light than she would ever need to see clearly.

And what she saw was a man without honor. Someone who had turned his back at his comrades for personal gain. A man without morals or integrity.

Colonel General Georgi Luchkov was one of the many officers of the old soviet army who had taken the chance to sell weapons to whoever paid more when the USSR fell. Warlords, the Russian mafia, organized crime everywhere… It didn't matter, as long as they had money.

Usually, Diana couldn't care less. Man's World was filled with arms dealers, always selling to whoever they could, in every corner of the globe; there was so many of them that she was sure her brother would be proud. Humans were always looking for new alternatives to kill themselves, in great numbers and in horrifying ways. She had seen so much of that since arriving in Man's World that none of it could surprise her anymore.

Georgi Luchkov, however, was a different story. Diana wasn't here because he was selling weapons; she was here because of who was _buying_ his weapons.

Without saying a word, Diana flicked her arm; the golden lasso obeyed her command and wrapped itself around Luchkov's neck. She saw his eyes widening and his mouth moved to say something, but he wasn't fast enough; the rope cut his air and the words were stuck in his throat when Diana started to drag him.

She could hear him gasping for oxygen, struggling to get free, but she didn't stop until she reached the wall. Relaxing her grip, she allowed him to breathe once and then pushed Luchkov against the wall strongly, leaning over him so he could see her face in the golden light.

"Please, I–"

"Be quiet," Diana interrupted, answering in Russian. "You talk when I ask something."

He was sweating and trembling, clearly terrified of her, but apparently not panicked enough to ignore simple orders, because he shut his mouth immediately.

"I do not care who you are," said Diana, looking at him without blinking. "I do not care why you are selling weapons. I care about _who_ you are selling them to." She stared at a drop of sweat running down his forehead for a moment. "Finding you proved itself to be quite the endeavor. I had to follow your tracks, work my way up one by one until I got your location. The question is: why were you hiding?"

Luchkov probably thought he could keep the information to himself, give her only the bare minimum so he could have some leverage; he was wrong. He whined in pain when the Lasso of Hestia burned the truth out of him.

"I-she told me you would come!" he grunted, suddenly very afraid when the words came out from his mouth on their own. "She said that she would pay me a lot, more than what the weapons normally cost, because I would be visited by… by the Godkiller!"

Diana raised an eyebrow; inside, however, she was much more surprised. She didn't think anyone would still remember the stories from the war, remember _her_. Peggy and Howard had done a remarkable job of erasing her existence from the archives of every intelligence agency, leaving only the old stories behind. Stories that had grown into legends, children tales, myth.

Except, apparently, the soviets still remembered her, the Godkiller that had vanquished War itself.

"I thought she was joking," the colonel general continued, laughing hysterically. "I jumped at the opportunity and then… People started to die! And now you are here."

Diana didn't exactly know who she was pursuing yet. She had come to Russia soon after Howard's funeral and used Peggy's contacts to start her search for the Winter Soldier. And she didn't get anywhere. With the nation broken and the army in complete disarray, it was easy for her to find officers to ask her questions; except nobody had answers.

The Winter Soldier was a ghost story in the USSR too.

A boogeyman, who hunted and killed targets everywhere, even in the very USSR. Some thought he worked for the KGB, some thought he was an independent assassin. Others thought he answered to hidden cells in the government, getting rid of enemies both domestic and foreign. There were those who didn't even believe in him or thought the Winter Soldier was actually the name of a group or even an external threat from some other nation.

But as she worked her way up, little by little, clues began to appear, when Diana realized that looking for witnesses and officers was useless; she had to look at his victims. Who were they benefiting? Who was being aided by their deaths? To whom would this people serve better dead than alive?

And, suddenly, patterns began to emerge. The fog began to dissipate and the horizon became clearer and clearer. Dead politicians, dead officers, dead witnesses, dead arms dealers, dead scientists… New politicians being chosen, officers being promoted, the dead witnesses giving her a map of his movements, large quantities of weapons and money being moved, researches ending or getting new directions… Someone was playing a long game here. Years and years of planning for something big.

Diana just didn't know what.

Then, out of nowhere, one of the old soviet officers, Colonel General Georgi Luchkov, managed to acquire a big quantity of military weapons from different divisions of the army; all of them previously overseen by other high officers who had either disappeared, retired or died.

That was a trail she couldn't let pass.

"Who is 'she'?" she asked, hoping that his answer would finally give her a target.

Whoever she was, she was dangerous, because Luchkov fought against the Lasso of Hestia to not answer.

"She- _She_ is a relic of the World War!" he almost yelled when the words were forced out. "A Nazi. Or at least her family was. Her name is Baroness Paula von Gunther."

Diana had never heard of her, but the lasso wasn't finished with Luchkov yet.

"Her family supported the Nazis during the war," he continued. "They gave Hitler money, _a lot_ of money. They truly believed in his ideology, to the point that they used their fortune to further Nazism in the world. At least… At least until Johan Schmidt appeared."

She felt a familiar rage burn inside her when she heard that name.

"Whatever Schmidt told them, whatever nonsense he invented, the von Gunther believed him wholeheartedly," Luchkov said. "They shifted their investment to HYDRA and for a while they singlehandedly paid for the whole thing. HYDRA wouldn't get as far as it got if it weren't for them."

Diana wouldn't even have realized that she closed her hands into a fist if not for the simple fact that the lasso tightened around his neck, making him lose the ability to talk. Without saying anything, she released it again, allowing him to get his breath back for a few seconds; he looked more terrified than ever.

"I-I usually don't c-care to whom I'm selling," he stuttered, his face red. "But this woman was an enemy of this country during the war. Well, her family was, she wasn't alive yet. But whatever she is now, she isn't far from the family tradition, that I can guarantee."

"How did her family escape the trials? How does she still have money to buy weapons from you?"

The man actually laughed.

"Money! What else? You have no idea how rich the von Gunther were and that money served them well. Not only they avoided prison, they still became one of the most important families in Germany."

Diana still felt her blood boil every time she heard about people who had escaped any punishment after the war; and there were many of them. In fact, that was one of the greatest fights she ever had with Peggy, when she found out that SHIELD had forgiven a lot of HYDRA members simply because they thought they would be of some use in the Cold War.

To her, that was the equivalent of spiting on Steve's grave. She knew Peggy didn't have the power to actually stop what happened, not early on, but the fact that she was willing to stay after that almost ended their friendship.

"What did this Baroness want from you?" Diana asked, trying to focus on the present.

"She wanted weapons. But not only the small ones, she wanted tanks, jets, ships… I almost refused to sell to her on the grounds that such a big sell would definitely attract attention, but in the end…"

"In the end she offered you a lot of money."

"Yes, but not only that," he admitted. "If I refused, she would've just killed me and bought from someone else."

"Why does she want all those weapons? The World War is over. HYDRA is over." Diana asked.

"I have no idea…" Diana allowed her power to flow through the lasso and the man groaned in pain when it burned him. "I-I think… _I think_ she is building an army, but that wasn't the only reason."

"Why then?"

"Because of you."

His answer surprised her so much that she stopped pouring her power in the lasso, but he didn't stop talking.

"She could've gotten what she wanted quietly, without drawing attention. And yet she deliberately chose to make a _huge_ purchase." Luchkov looked at her eyes. "And then she warned me that the Godkiller would appear. This… This is bait."

Diana's temper flared; who did this woman think she was?

"And you knew about this?!"

"No! Please, believe me! I just sold her weapons, only that!"

She leaned over him again, her face inches away from his.

"Tell me where to find her."

* * *

 **London – January 27** **th** **, 1944**

"Let me get this straight," said Bucky, sitting at a table in the pub's private room with Steve, Howard, Dugan and Colonel Phillips. "You fell on an island that looked like a piece of Heaven, full of the most gorgeous women in the planet, not a men in sight, and your first instinct is to _leave?!_ Did you fall on your head when the plane crashed?"

Steve blushed slightly and drank his beer to conceal that. Despite being raised a gentleman, he did have less than pure thoughts about Themyscira more than he would care to share with anyone. Diana sleeping by his side on the ship didn't exactly help him with that.

"I have to agree with Bucky, pal," Howard said, shaking his head. "If the women there were half as beautiful as Princess you basically turned your back at every men's wildest dreams. Shame on you!"

"Alright, alright, leave Steve alone," said Dugan, a cigar on his mouth. Steve almost thanked him before he added: "It's bad form to make fun of the disabled. We should help him deal with his injured head, not make jokes."

"Thank you, Dugan, really," Steve said, sarcastically, as Bucky, Howard and Dugan laughed like a trio of hyenas; he thought he saw even Colonel Phillips smiling.

"Where are Princess and Peggy by the way?" asked Howard. "We should call them here, there are too many men in this room!"

"Peggy took Diana to her quarters. She is going to sleep there tonight," Steve answered.

"Oh my!" Bucky whispered, too low for any non-superhuman to hear; Steve would've reprehended him if not for the fact that he did utter those same words when Diana informed him she would "spend the night with Peggy". He blamed Howard for his thoughts.

"Okay, gentlemen, you've had your fun," said Colonel Phillips, interrupting Stark before he could say something else. "Time to move to more serious matters."

His words seemed to make the good mood in the room evaporate.

"Rogers, you've told us that Diana and her… 'amazon' sisters are enhanced, like you," he continued, as Steve nodded.

"It's true," Howard said and for once he seemed serious. "What she did in that alley today… I've never seen even Steve move so fast. She was deflecting bullets!"

Bucky and Dugan, who hadn't still heard of this, widened their eyes; all they knew was what Steve quickly told them, that Diana was strong. That went a little beyond that.

"What's your take on this?" Colonel Phillips asked, looking at Howard. "How is that possible?"

Steve had told them the same thing Diana told him: that they were created by Zeus and because of that they were powerful. Now, Steve believed that Diana believed in that; it didn't mean he shared her faith. And apparently no one there shared it either.

"Well, she seems to believe they were created by Zeus and their strength derives from that, which is obviously nonsense," answered Howard, his hand holding his chin while he looked forward with unfocused eyes. "People have all sorts of weird beliefs around the world to explain things they can't understand. Like, the Scandinavian believed thunderstorms were made by Thor and his hammer and that the long and very harsh winters happened because of the Frost Giants. There are some places that believe that chopped body parts of albinos bring luck! Or that one twin is always born evil and has to be buried alive..."

He realized he was getting of track and stopped.

"What I mean is, people make stuff up to explain what they can't all the time. My guess is that something in that island – Themyscira, right? – made them stronger and they needed something to explain that. Zeus is as good an explanation as any other, I suppose."

"But what could possible make people that strong?" asked Bucky. "She is half my size and she managed to toss me all the way to the other side of the room. That's impressive as hell!"

"Wait, why am I only hearing about this now?" Stark asked, his eyes shining.

"Focus, Howard," said Colonel Phillips.

"Right, focus… Well, I didn't have the time to study this, but…" He looked at Steve. "Your shield, I told you it's made of vibranium, right? Rarest metal on Earth and all that. What I didn't tell you is where it came from." Steve raised his eyebrows, surprised. "You see, vibranium is rare because it's not _from_ Earth. All we have comes from an asteroid that fell on our planet a long time ago, right in a country named Wakanda."

"I've never heard of it," Steve admitted.

"Yeah, most people haven't. They aren't very welcoming to outsiders, believe me, I know!" Howard said. "I went there once, with Erskine. Didn't even manage to cross the borders, but at least we got back with enough vibranium to build that shield of yours, so that's something."

"What were you doing there?" asked Dugan.

Howard thought about his words for a second.

"You are aware, of course, that Erskine injected Schmidt with his first version of the Super-Soldier Serum. It worked but… It had its side effects. There is a reason he is called 'Red Skull', after all. And a reason he is even crazier than before. Anyway, Erskine and I were looking for solutions to improve the serum, so that when we found a candidate, we wouldn't melt the skin off his face and make him go insane. I tried to tell him a skull like face would put the fear of god in the hearts of the Nazis, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"Thank you, Howard," Steve said, ironically; Stark only grinned.

"That was before we had the brilliant idea of using Vita Rays to help stabilize the serum, of course," Howard continued. "But, back then, we were still looking for alternatives and we found some mentions of an interesting herb in Wakanda. Apparently, the Wakandans had a very old tradition of using this herb to enhance people, make them stronger, faster, and tougher. Now, obviously, they thought it had something to do with some god or another – third world countries, right? – but the properties of the herb were actually very real. They could truly make super-soldiers using it."

Everyone was looking at Howard with shocked expressions, Steve most of all.

"We couldn't actually get a sample of the herb," Howard continued, annoyed, "but we knew it existed. My guess is that Themyscira has something of the kind, maybe an herb, maybe some kind of mineral in the water, maybe the fruit they use to paint their bodies to dance naked under the moon–"

"They don't dance naked under the m–"

"–but I'm pretty certain that their strength derives from that and not from any divinity in the sky."

Could it be that simple? Well, it certainly was more plausible than saying they were a race made by Zeus, that was true. But even then Steve thought something was missing. The things he saw in Themyscira… He didn't have words to explain and somehow a super-herb didn't explain them all.

"But what about her equipment?" Steve asked.

Everyone turned to Howard again.

"Don't know. Haven't studied them yet," he said. "I know her bracelets, at least, are extremely resistant. She used them to deflect bullets and I didn't see a scratch on them after. They are not vibranium, but I don't know what they are either."

"That's not what I was talking about," Steve interrupted. "I was talking about her… rope. Her Lasso of Hestia."

Howard frowned.

"The glowing one? What about that?"

Steve sighed.

"It can force people to tell the truth."

Silence followed his statement. Everyone just looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Are you sure you didn't really hit your head, Steve?" Bucky asked and he truly sounded worried now.

He knew they would think he was insane.

"They used it on me," he explained. "I know what I'm talking about. The lasso _burns_. It actually forces you to tell the truth about whatever they ask."

Colonel Phillips looked skeptic.

"Are you sure they just didn't drug you?"

Stark snapped his fingers.

"That could explain it! A psychotropic drug applied on the rope could maybe have those effects."

"On me?" Steve asked.

"Well, I don't know, pal. Like I said, I haven't studied it yet. But the drug is surely more plausible than saying the rope was enchanted by a goddess! There is no such thing as magic, only science."

"If it works one way or the other what's the difference?" said Bucky, sipping from his mug.

Howard seemed offended by the very idea.

"There is a _big_ difference! Science takes brain, magic takes darker eyeliner." He looked at Steve. "And we have only Steve's word about this, who was probably concussed and drugged."

Steve sighed again.

"You know what, Howard? Why don't you try it tomorrow. Hold it and tell us something embarrassing."

"I have no shame!" he said, laughing.

That was probably true. Deciding to move on with the conversation, Steve turned to Colonel Phillips.

"Sir, how are we doing with the preparations for the mission?" he asked.

Colonel Phillips leaned over the table.

"If things work properly, you are leaving tomorrow." He tilted his head in Howard's direction. "Stark volunteered to pilot the plane, using the routes Sir Patrick gave us. But you won't be able to land, you'll have to jump and go the rest of the way on foot. You can coordinate with Peggy via radio. She already studied the field and made contact with the Red Army's troops near the region, in case you need a little extra help. And, since this is a low key mission, I suggest you take few people with you."

Steve agreed.

"Just me, some of the Howling Commandos… And Diana."

Everybody snapped their heads in his direction. Colonel Phillips frowned.

"The last time you chose your own men we got the Howling Commandos, so I won't say anything," he said. "But are you sure you want to take her? Strong or not, she is not a soldier."

"With all due respect, sir, she may not be a soldier, but she is a warrior. Just not trained like us. But believe me when I say that there isn't a single men in the whole army better trained than her."

Steve meant that, but he also knew Colonel Phillips might be right. Diana was an amazon, not a soldier like them. Despite all her power, she wasn't familiar with new weaponry, vehicles and tactics. But they _had_ made a deal. And a deal was a promise. And a promise was unbreakable.

There was also the small fact that he knew he couldn't leave without her and expect her not to follow them on foot.

* * *

Diana turned on the radio, smiling brightly at Peggy when music came out of it.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed. "How does it work?"

Peggy smiled kindly at her; she couldn't remember the last time she had seen such fascination with the world.

"I'm not an expert, you'll have to ask Howard for a deeper explanation, but they transfer information using radio waves, which are received by the radio itself. Thus, we have music. It is used for communication as well."

Her smile became even bigger when Diana started to move with the song without noticing.

"We do not have this in Themyscira. When we want music, we have to sing."

"Yes, the radio does make things more convenient. If I had to sing every time I wanted to listen to music my ears would bleed."

"They would not!" Diana laughed. "You have a beautiful voice."

She couldn't help but to laugh with her.

"How is Themyscira, Diana?" Peggy asked, curious.

Diana sat down on the bed and thought about it for a moment.

"It's a beautiful place, Peggy. Always sunny, always bright. The sea around is so blue, full of colorful fishes. The city is made of rock, full of statues and temples. And there are trees! I don't think I've seen a tree since I left!"

"You miss it very much, don't you?" she asked, sitting by Diana's side.

Diana sighed.

"I do. When I was there, there was nothing I wanted more than to leave, to see the rest of the world. And I still do, but… It's my home. It's where my mother, aunt and sisters are."

"You can always go back," Peggy suggested. "According to what you told me, the war hasn't arrived there yet."

The amazon Princess smiled sadly.

"But it arrived everywhere else. What kind of person would I be if I just abandoned Man's World to its fate? It is my responsibility to fight, to bring back peace and love. To defeat Ares."

Wait, what?

"Ares? As in the… Greek god of war?" she asked.

Diana nodded, serious.

"When Zeus created mankind they were good and fair, until Ares started to corrupt them, to fill their hearts with wrath and war. And there was chaos. So Zeus created the amazons, so we could bring back peace to the world and for a brief time there was no more war. But it didn't last."

She lifted her arms and showed Peggy her bracelets.

"These are the Bracelets of Submission. Every amazon has a pair of these. They are a symbol so that we never forget about the times when the amazons were slaves. About the revolt led by my mother that freed all amazons. And when Zeus led the gods to their defense, Ares killed them one by one until only Zeus himself remained. So he used the last of his power to stop Ares, striking such a blow that forced him to retreat."

Diana let her arms down and looked at Peggy's eyes.

"But he knew that one day Ares would return and bring with him an endless War that would finish what he started. So before he succumbed to his injuries, Zeus created Themyscira and left with the amazons a weapon strong enough to kill a god: Godkiller."

Saying this, Diana unsheathed her sword.

"This is the weapon I'll use to kill Ares. And when I do, the war will end and men will be good again!"

Peggy lowered her eyes with a sad smile on her face; if only it were that easy.

"That's why Steve is going to take me to where the fight is the most intense, so I can finally find Ares and slay him."

That made Peggy look up very quickly.

"Did Steve tell you he would take you to Ares?!" she asked, suddenly furious with him.

"Well, no," Diana admitted. "He actually told me he didn't know if Ares was here. But I'm sure he is! Two world wars, Peggy! There is no other explanation!"

Peggy could think of several explanations for that and none of them involved the Greek god of war.

"That is why I'm going with them to Poland!"

"You are?! Did Steve tell you that?"

"We made a deal. And a deal is a promise. And a promise is unbreakable. Why, are you not coming?"

"I will coordinate the mission from here," Peggy answered, still thinking about how Diana would go to enemy territory with a sword, a shield and a miniskirt. "Diana, are you sure you don't want to stay here with me? This is going to be _very dangerous_."

"Yes, I know!" she agreed, grinning. "Steve will need my help."

Steve would need help, that was true, but Peggy wasn't exactly sure if Diana would be the help or the problem in this situation yet.

* * *

 **London – January 28** **th** **, 1944**

"Okay, Diana," said Bucky, showing her a pistol. "This here is the Colt M1911. It's a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine fed, recoil operated pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. This is the standard sidearm of the American army."

He extended the pistol to her, but changed his mind.

"I'm going to give it to you, but you are not to point it to anyone, understand? And whatever you do, _do not pull the trigger_."

Diana picked the pistol carefully and looked back at Bucky.

"Trigger?"

Bucky closed his eyes for a moment and then turned to Steve, exasperated. How exactly would they take Diana with them if she couldn't fire a gun?

"Oh, don't worry, I think I found it," she said, smiling.

She looked like a little girl holding a teddy bear.

"Okay, Diana," said Steve, approaching. "Now, do you see those dummies in the back of the room?"

Bucky looked around instead of looking at the rubber targets. They were in the SSR's HQ, underground, in Howard's lab. They would leave at the end of the day, under cover of darkness, to Poland, so that they could find HYDRA's new weapon, destroy it and bring proof of their advanced firepower. That way, hopefully, they would allow them to keep doing their jobs and save the world.

Steve would lead them, of course, and Captain America would count on him, Dum Dum Dugan, Jim Morita, Jacques Dernier, Gabe Jones and Pinkerton during the mission. Howard would pilot and take them closer and Peggy would coordinate them from London. All very neat and organized.

And then there was Diana.

Bucky was against this. Strong or not, Diana was not trained to do what they did. It wasn't a slight against her, it was a fact. She had no knowledge about anything related to the mission, from guns to vehicles, to the orders Steve would issue during battle. She had never even held a gun before and she was actually thinking about using a sword to fight.

Okay, maybe Steve used a shield, but it was an unbreakable shield and he had a gun as well.

"Now, you have to raise your arm like this, point it and aim," Steve said, directing her moves from behind her. "Don't shoot yet. When you do, there's going to be recoil. The gun will jump. Don't let it, hold it firmly. And prepare yourself for a loud noise."

Diana seemed confused.

"All I have to do is shoot those dummy things?" she asked.

"Yes."

"But… It seems so easy."

Bucky smiled, shaking his head. He looked at Howard, Peggy and Colonel Phillips behind them, everyone's eyes fixed on what was happening. In fact, every single person there was watching; nobody was working anymore. It could be because Diana was about to shoot a gun for the first time and they were scared to be shot, but Bucky thought it have something to do with her being extremely beautiful.

"It's not easy, Diana," Steve said.

"Are you sure? It seems pretty easy."

Steve sighed.

"Shoot, then."

She did. And Bucky's jaw was open wide, as was everyone's, when every single bullet hit the dummy's forehead _at the exact same spot_.

"What the f–"

"How did you do this?" exclaimed Peggy, her eyes wide.

Diana was frowning.

"I told you it seemed too easy." She gave the gun back to Bucky. "I don't like it. It's too noisy."

Bucky took his hands to his face as Steve tried to explain to her why she needed to _take a_ _gun with her in the middle of enemy territory._

"Diana you need a gun. What are you going to do if you need to kill someone from far away?" asked Steve.

She looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

"I will get closer," she said, smiling.

"How?!" Bucky asked, not able to contain himself anymore. "They'll be shooting at you!"

"That's why I have a shield. And my bracelets."

"Speaking about your bracelets," Howard said, approaching, "what are they made of? They weren't even scratched yesterday when you deflected those bullets."

Diana showed him her arm.

"Amazon steel. It's forged using the techniques Hephaestus taught us."

Howard stopped and looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again.

"But _how_?" he asked. "Do they add something to it, are the forges built in a special way…?"

She shrugged.

"I never really liked blacksmithing. You would have to ask my sisters."

Stark seemed close to an aneurism and Steve, noticing this, guided Diana a few meters away.

"Okay, Diana, listen," he began. "I know you don't like it, but you need to–"

"No," she said. "I don't know how to use this, Steve, I don't like it. It feels… wrong. How would you feel if I made you use a sword?"

"It's different, Diana! The place we are going is like nothing you've ever seen! You were taught to fight like that because in Themyscira there are no guns. Suppose you can't get closer, what do you do?"

Diana took her hands under her coat and took a lasso, glowing in bright golden. Bucky was curious, asking himself what she would do now, when she unwrapped it quickly, the rope almost turning into a whip. She moved so fast that all Bucky could process was a shining glow and a ripping noise.

The three rubber dummies fell to the ground, headless.

His jaw was, once again, agape.

"I won't take a gun," she stated. "I do not feel comfortable with them and that will be more harmful than good."

Steve only nodded, eyes still glued to the dummies.

"Okay, no guns."

"Is that the truth rope?" asked Howard, getting closer again.

Diana smiled at the name.

"Lasso of Hestia," she corrected. "But yes."

"How does it work?" Howard asked.

Bucky sighed; why did he even try?

"The Lasso of Hestia burns the truth out of a person. It was enchanted by–"

"But _how_ does it work?" Howard interrupted, exasperated. "Is it coated in a psychotropic drug?"

Diana looked confused at her lasso.

"It's magic," she said.

Bucky could see a nerve trembling on Howard's face.

"May I?" he muttered between his teeth.

She nodded and allowed him to touch it.

"It's warm," he said and then looked at her. "So now that I'm holding it I suddenly can't lie?"

Diana shook her head.

"No."

"Right," Howard said, with a skeptic smile. "Let's see… I'm a wom-arrghh!"

Whatever Howard was going to say was interrupted by a grunt of pain. He was wide eyed now, looking from the lasso to Diana.

"I love Naz-wow!" he looked at Diana again, looking at the lasso. "It's burning me! How?!"

The poor girl looked frustrated.

"I've already told you!"

"Okay, then! Don't tell me! Let's try something else, then. Ask me a question. Force me to tell you the truth."

"Howard, are you sure about this?" Steve asked, as Peggy and Colonel Phillips approached.

"Science is made by enduring hardships," he announced, pompous. He looked at the lasso as if it had offended him. "Unlike _magic tricks_."

Diana was clueless to what was happening but did what he asked.

"Alright. Tell me… Tell me what you dreamt yesterday," she said.

Howard, holding firmly the lasso, suddenly twisted his face in pain.

"I… _I_ had a dream… about- _about…"_ He closed his eyes, sweat running down his face, as he tried to resist whatever was happening to him with all his willpower. Everyone was looking at him, getting closer, trying to understand his battle. But then he couldn't hold it anymore. "I HAD A DREAM ABOUT YOU AND PEGGY!"

He yelled that so loud that people came running from the other rooms to see what was happening. There was a circle of agents around them, every single one looking at Howard with shocked faces. And for the first time in his life, maybe the last too, Bucky saw Howard blushing.

They were all looking at Howard with mouths agape and wide eyes. And Peggy… She was entirely red, her face also frozen in complete surprise.

The only person there who wasn't surprised – or ashamed – was Diana. She just looked curious.

"What kind of dream?" she asked, innocently.

Before Howard could be forced to answer, everyone jumped forward, pushing him away from the rope; no one needed to hear whatever perversion Howard had dreamt last night.

"Okay! Enough jokes, people!" ordered Colonel Phillips, trying to get some sort of order back in the place. "We have an important mission tonight, there is no time for playing games."

He turned to Diana.

"You! You don't want to carry a gun? That's your choice. But listen to me and listen well. This is important. Maybe the most important mission of the history of the SSR. You _will_ follow Captain Roger's orders and you will do your best to not get them, and you, killed. You believe you were made by Zeus and it's your mission to bring back peace? Well, I don't give a damn about your faith, but if you truly think that, now is your chance."

Amazingly, Diana didn't seem scared or intimidated; she seemed thrilled.

"I will do my best… Sir."

Without realizing, Bucky also smiled. Lack of training or not, she had strength of will; the Howling Commandos would make a soldier out of her yet. Seeing that she was in good hands, he turned and started to prepare himself for the mission, grabbing his equipment. He could hear people talking around the room, in low voices, commenting about what they had just seen. And, of course, there were those, like him, who were also preparing themselves.

Bucky turned to get some things from his quarter and the last thing he heard was Steve arguing:

"I don't care if you can survive the fall, Diana, you will wear a parachute!"

Laughing quietly, he exited the lab.

* * *

Diana gazed at the big plane in front of her. It was night already, she was wearing her armor under her fur cape and the accursed parachute strapped on her back; Steve could not be dissuaded on that matter.

"It's a lot bigger than the one you were when you fell," she said, looking at Steve.

He nodded.

"That one was made for one pilot. This one is made to take several people."

Saying this, Steve grabbed a green helmet that looked like a bowl and put it on her head, strapping it under her chin. He finished and looked at her.

"Do you remember what I taught you about the parachute?" he asked.

"Jump, wait a few seconds and pull the string," she repeated.

Steve nodded again.

"We are going to fly closer to Poland and then keep going on foot," he explained, again. "We may or may not cross with enemy soldiers. If we do, we have to stop them from sounding the alarm. Remember, Diana, we are not there to wage war. We don't have the numbers to do that. So, please, whatever you do, be discreet."

"I know how to be discreet, Steve!"

By the way he looked at her, she didn't think he really believed her. But before she could say anymore, Steve's men, the Howling Commandos, appeared. Steve turned to talk to them, but she held his sleeve.

"Steve, wait," she said. He looked at her and she smiled at him. "Thank you. For bringing me here."

He also smiled.

"A deal is a promise. And a promise is unbreakable."

* * *

 **Russia, Unknown Location – March 17** **th** **, 1992**

"I don't know where she is!" Luchkov answered immediately.

Diana's eyes were unblinking as she poured her power in the Lasso of Hestia. She could hear his cries escaping between his teeth.

"That may be true, but you know how to find her, don't you?" she asked.

"Y-YES!" he yelled, breathing hard when the lasso stopped to burn.

"So? How do I find her?"

Luchkov shook his head, tired. The man was a mess, covered in sweat, exhausted, afraid and dirty.

"There is someone who knows everything worth knowing about everyone. I-I'm not sure if she has the Baroness's location, but if she doesn't have it, no one will."

"What is her name and where do I find her?" asked Diana, annoyed to have yet again to look for clues, but excited to _have_ clues.

Colonel General Georgi Luchkov became as pale as snow for one second.

"Madam B. is how she is known. And you can find her in the Red Room."

* * *

 **Chapter 6! Hope you like it! Review, favorite, follow… Thanks for everything!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Itsy Bitsy Spider

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 7 – Itsy Bitsy Spider**

 **Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre – March 27** **th** **, 1992**

Every single head turned to look at Diana when she passed through the theatre looking for her seat in the first row. Wearing a pure white dress, that left her back and left shoulder bared while hugging her figure perfectly, Diana was the very definition of beauty. The amazon princess, however, didn't seem to notice the looks, as she walked and finally sat down alone.

Soon, when everybody was sitting as well, the music filled the theatre and the ballerinas danced, every move in complete harmony with the melody. The Swan Lake was a beautiful ballet, or so Diana thought; it was, however, sad and that she did not like very much. It was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky more than a century ago, inspired in folk tales. It told the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by a sorcerer's curse, who needed to find a true and faithful love so that she could become human again.

It ended in tragedy, of course. There still wasn't anything humans liked more than a tragic love story.

Prince Siegfried and Odette met and fell in love, only to be tricked by the sorcerer Baron von Rothbart and his daughter, Odile. Pretending to be Odette, the White Swan, Odile, the Black Swan, seduced Prince Siegfried and made him break his vow, dooming Odette to her swan form forever. Troubled by what he did, Siegfried hurried back to Odette and begged for forgiveness; she granted it, but before they can be together again, the sorcerer conjures a storm, making it impossible for them to reunite. And when the storm finally ends, Siegfried is left alone on the empty banks of the swan lake.

The ending varied depending on who was telling the story, but it was never a happy ending. At the final act there was always grief; Diana found that too much like real life.

She wasn't there, however, to see the ballet. In fact, even though she was watching the ballerinas very carefully, Diana was barely paying attention to the story. No, there was a very different reason for her to be there at that night.

Diana was there to be assassinated.

Or, more accurately, she was there to survive an assassination attempt, capture the assassin who seemed to be in charge and then force him or her to take her directly to Madam B. and her Red Room.

Colonel General Georgi Luchkov didn't know where Madam B. was. Nobody knew. As he said: "You don't find her, she finds you." And given the Red Room's reputation, that was most likely not an exaggeration. Peggy, Howard and the Howling Commandos had crossed their path during the Cold War, she knew that much.

The Red Room started as a top secret program on an organization called Leviathan. Leviathan was basically the soviet's SHIELD; it was created by Stalin after the First World War as a way to ensure that the Soviet Union would become the world's leading superpower. In few words, the Red Room trained assassins, but not common assassins.

Assassins that were brainwashed until complete loyalty since infancy, trained to be the best and most lethal killers in the world.

There was a very good reason Luchkov feared them, a good reason for any sane person to fear them. Not only they were trained to kill efficiently, the Red Room was famous for their information gathering. They knew everything about everyone, sometimes even more so than SHIELD itself.

With the fall of the Soviet Union, Leviathan had lost much of its power and direction, but the Red Room continued focused as always. Still training, still spying, still killing; business like that never stopped, even if their victims now weren't chosen by the government, but by who could pay for their services. And that was the only reason Diana hadn't killed Luchkov.

In exchange for his life, she had demanded he put a contract on hers; not a deal Diana ever expected to make, but desperate times…

So now, all Diana could do was wait. Luchkov had put the word out and the Red Room had no doubt heard it. That was the way it usually worked; someone wanted someone dead, the Red Room would find out about it, eliminate the target and send a person to collect the money. Given that Luchkov had a lot of money and was relatively important, it was pretty certain that the Red Room would be willing to take this contract, or so she had imagined.

But ten days had already passed since she forced Luchkov to do that and still nothing happened. Diana was beginning to feel restless. Would they really ignore the contract? Did they know something she didn't? Were they unwilling to go against her? Diana was sure that the things she did in Russia since she arrived were not a secret to them, but had she really managed to scare them off?

Trying to make things easier for them, Diana went to Moscow and started going out in the streets and famous places to attract them. She purposely went alone and unarmed to deserted places, she tried to make herself as harmless as possible; hence, why she was watching the Swan Lake, a place where a sniper on the upper balconies could easily find a position to shoot her. She was doing everything Peggy advised her agents not to do; in fact, Peggy seemed quite agitated when she called and asked for tips on how to better attract assassins.

But apparently, it had worked.

Closing her eyes, Diana focused on everything that was happening around her. Her godly senses and her amazon training made the environment appear on her mind as if she could see every little detail of what was going on. The theatre was full of people, most of them there just to enjoy the ballet, but there were some who seemed tenser than usual and some who were carrying things they shouldn't.

She could hear the man by her right holding the handle of a knife, the woman by her left scratching her fingers on a concealed gun under her dress, a man breathing softly as he aimed his sniper-rifle from the upper balcony at her, a couple three rows behind tensing their muscles as if ready to fight and four security guards who seemed to find watching her much more interesting them actually guarding the place.

So they were going for a surprise attack rather than trying to overcome her power; wise, she thought. Given the troops she had beaten singlehanded since arriving in Russia, it was a smart move not to fight her face to face.

What were they waiting for? What was the signal? Diana's question was almost immediately answered when she heard a very soft metallic _clank_ coming from the stage, from one of the ballerinas. She opened her eyes, seeing them all dressed in white, the swans dancing together around Odette, making her disappear in the middle. Diana grinned in anticipation.

"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" she asked, her voice low.

The man at her right and the woman at her left were suddenly paralyzed; there was a drop of sweat falling down the man's face. And at that moment, the lights turned off, leaving the entire theatre in darkness.

Foolishness; as if her vision wasn't good enough to see through that. Diana could clearly see the woman playing Odette, hidden in the middle of the other ballerinas, raising a gun in her direction; she was either wearing some kind of night vision goggles on her swan mask or had practiced to exhaustion shooting blindly at that exact position, Diana guessed, while she pulled the trigger.

The sound from the pistol echoed in the theatre, illuminating the stage from a fraction of second. Diana was already moving when the bullet left the gun, raising her right arm, taking her bracelet, concealed behind a white glove, in front of her face to deflect the shot. She felt the bullet ripping the glove, grazing the metal, and twisted her arm, sending it behind her, feeling the bullet passing in the middle of the audience until it finally came to a halt.

Right between the eyes of the assassin sitting three rows behind her.

Blood rained upon the audience; there was one second of complete silence. Then the screaming started. Everybody began to run, yelling, desperate, but Diana was barely paying attention to that. Realizing the shot didn't hit the target, the man by her right tried to attack her with his knife. She held his hand before he could stab her and used his own knife against him.

She didn't twist his arm like a martial artist would, using the adversary's own strength against him; she just used her superior strength to pulverize the bones of his arm, making any resistance he could put up against her disappear, so the knife could find itself inside his throat. The assassin on her left was beginning to get up too, pulling the gun from beneath her dress, so Diana turned and punched her temple, killing her instantly.

At the moment the woman fell back on her seat, the lights turned on again. The crowd was running to the exit, still screaming, some falling and being dragged by their friends and family. Diana looked at them for a moment, her eyes ignoring the civilians and finding the other assassin who was sitting by the side of the man who got shot.

Finding her, she pulled the knife from the man's throat, allowing him to fall on the ground, and tossed it; the blade was a blur in the air, spinning, passing through the civilians much like the bullet had. And before the assassin could even realize what was happening, it hit her in the chest.

Four assassins down, six to go.

With a clear vision, the sniper on the balcony took his chance; the shot was unbelievably loud in the theatre. Diana didn't even look at him, she just raised her arm and deflected the bullet back, right at the gun's scope. The man probably didn't even know how he had died.

Simultaneously, the assassin playing Odette tried to shoot her again. Diana dodged three of her bullets, seeing the ballerinas running everywhere at the same time she used her hearing to know where the assassins pretending to be security guards were. One of them was grabbing a rifle and the other three had some kind of electric baton; did they really think that, just because she could deflect bullets, melee weapons were the answer?

Without looking at "Odette", Diana deflected one of her bullets back at her hand; she needed one alive, after all, she thought, as the ballerina screamed. Turning, she grabbed the Lasso of Hestia wrapped around her right thigh and swung it; the security guard aiming the rifle at her had his neck suddenly wrapped with the golden rope.

She pulled the lasso with force, bringing the man with it and making him collide against another assassin with such power that both of them died immediately. Hearing the assassin approaching behind her, Diana twisted her body right at the moment the baton would hit her head, lifting her leg and kicking the man in the chest.

Usually, because they were very close, a kick like that wouldn't have hurt much; Diana's kick, however, was stronger than a human's by far. The man felt his chest cave in and was launched against his companion, both of them dying together.

"Enough!" yelled someone from the stage, in Russian. "Stop now or I kill the girls!"

Diana wrapped the Lasso of Hestia on her hand and turned; the assassin who played Odette was holding two little girls hostage, her injured hand around their necks while the other one held a gun against one of the kid's head; the bullet, if fired, would certainly go through the red haired little girl's temple and hit the other one too.

"Put the rope down!" the assassin screamed, pressing the gun with more strength.

For a second, Diana just looked at her, tilting her head slightly to the side; and then she moved. The Lasso of Hestia was unwrapped so quickly, with such power, that the assassin didn't even have the chance to react; the golden rope hit the pistol and simply sliced it. And before "Odette" could regain her mental faculties, Diana twisted her hand and wrapped the lasso around her neck.

She pulled her from the stage with all the kindness she deserved, which was none, making the woman fly in the air, making a complete arc over her, landing on her back. It was brutal, but at least she was still alive.

Giving the beaten assassin a last look, Diana looked back at the girls, a reassuring smile forming on her lips; only to be received by a bullet.

Diana was not expecting this at all and the only reason the managed to dodge the bullet was because of her ingrained reflexes. She moved without meaning to, reacting to the sound, dodging to the side at the exact moment; she felt the metal of the bullet almost caressing her face.

It wouldn't have killed her, not after she unleashed all her godly powers in the fight against Ares, but if it was anything like having bombs blow up in her face it probably would have been unpleasant.

Raising her head, Diana looked for the shooter; only to open her eyes wide in surprise when she found the red haired little girl she had just saved holding the gun. The girl seemed as surprised as she was, but she hid any reaction behind a cold expression quickly; a cold expression that did not belong on the face of a child.

"Retreat! I repeat, retreat!" she said, pressing a hidden radio in her ear, and already walking back.

Diana had no intention of letting her leave, but before she could give one single step the other little girl jumped from the stage in her direction, her hand pulling a string hidden under her clothes.

"NO!" yelled the red haired little girl, her cold expression completely forgotten as despair took her face.

 _BOOOOOM_!

The explosion took the entire theatre, the flames swallowing everything, including Diana.

* * *

 **Poland – January 29** **th** **, 1944**

The plane made a terrible noise, but Diana was marveled at the sight behind the little window. She was actually flying! That was amazing. She still couldn't believe Man's World had such incredible inventions. Steve had told her there were also machines that could go deep under the water!

She turned, with a big smile on her face, and looked at Steve.

"We're going so fast! Did the plane that fell in Themyscira fly this fast?" she asked.

Steve smiled at her.

"More or less," he answered. "But it could maneuver much easier than this one."

Diana sat down again, extremely excited.

"What kind of maneuvers?" she asked.

"It could turn much faster, do a loop, spin…"

"Can we?!" she exclaimed, turning to Howard in the cockpit.

"God, please no!" said Dugan; he looked a little green.

"What's the matter, Dugan?" Diana asked. "Are you feeling ill?"

He just nodded, not feeling safe enough to open his mouth. Bucky laughed.

"Didn't know you had a weak stomach for flying, Dugan!" he said.

Dugan closed his eyes.

"We were not made for flying," he said, slowly.

"Nonsense!" yelled Howard from the cockpit. "I bet in the future everyone will have a personal suit to fly everywhere. No more cars, no more planes, you just open your closet, wear it over your normal clothes and _BAM_ , fly to the sky!" He looked at them, smiling. "It could be made to turn into a normal suitcase after. It's what I would do!"

"The flying car you made doesn't even fly yet, Howard," Steve said, smiling. "I was there on Stark Expo, I saw it falling."

Howard just laughed.

"A flying automobile?!" exclaimed Diana, eyes wide. "Like the one that almost hit me?"

"I can take you for a ride when it's finished, Princess," Howard offered. "We can go for ice cream!"

"What's ice cream?"

"You don't have them in Themyscira? Oh, you are going to love it!"

"Stop talking about food!" groaned Dugan, making the Howling Commandos laugh.

They flew in silence for a while, the night sky passing fast, the clouds like a giant white blanket. And then, all of a sudden, Howard called them again.

"We are arriving at the drop zone, Captain," he said. "Get ready to jump."

Steve nodded and looked at them.

"You heard him, check your equipment," he said and as everyone started to follow his orders, turned to Diana.

He didn't say anything to her, just checked her things, making sure she was ready to jump, she supposed. He got very close, pulling the straps of her parachute and checking her helmet. Diana just stood there, being pulled a little to one side or the other as he made the adjustments; she smiled. It was good to have someone looking after her. It felt like home. She closed her eyes for a second and relaxed, enjoying the proximity, something she missed from Paradise Island.

"You smell really nice, Steve," she said, without thinking.

Steve just froze, his face acquiring quite the red tone, and after a second he resumed what he was doing.

"Um, thank you, Diana," he said. "You… smell nice too."

She smiled.

"It's… sweet. Like honey, but not quite."

Steve froze again, but he was not red anymore, just frowning. Without saying anything, he tapped his pockets and took something out from them.

"Is this the smell?" he asked, putting the object close to her face.

Diana sniffed.

"Yes! What is this? It smells so good!"

He sighed and then chuckled a bit.

"It's chocolate, a type of candy. I'll tell you what, after we're all safe down there, I'll give this to you, okay? But remember to do exactly as I taught you. When that light over there is green, we jump. After a few seconds, when you see our parachutes open, you pull your cord as well. Remember?"

Diana rolled her eyes.

"I remember, Steve. You explained this a thousand times!"

"It doesn't hurt to explain 1001 times then," he said, getting up.

She got up with him, also checking her things. Her shield was at her back, under the parachute, like the Godkiller. Her fur cape was around her, well strapped so it wouldn't fly off, and her bag was at her waist, alongside the Lasso of Hestia.

While she was checking everything, the light over the cargo bay door turned green and the door opened; the wind was howling fiercely.

"Good luck!" yelled Howard.

"Go, go, go!" yelled Steve, as the Howling Commandos began to jump. He looked at her and nodded. "You first."

Diana got closer to the door and looked down; it really was a long way down. She felt her chest bursting with eagerness for some reason. And then she jumped.

It was like time stopped as she began to fall, the wind hitting her face and making her dark hair whip the air. The sounds died around her, swallowed by the wind, and she felt like she was underwater. Under her, the big green trees approached as she fell, but Diana almost didn't care.

For the first time in her entire life she was in the sky and she loved it.

* * *

Steve jumped soon after Diana did, diving head first. He tried to control his fall to move closer to her, in case something went wrong, so he looked for her in the sky. Closing his legs and arms, he plunged in her direction.

And somehow passed her faster than he should.

Trying to look up, Steve opened his parachute, feeling his body stop midair for a second, before continue to fall slower. Twisting his body, Steve looked up, searching for Diana, trying to figure it out how exactly he had fallen this faster. Finally, he managed to see her in the night sky; his jaw dropped.

Diana was flying. He had no other explanation; she had her eyes closed, relaxed, as if floating on water.

"Diana!" he yelled, trying to make his voice reach her against all the wind. "Pull the cord!"

Somehow she listened to him and the last thing Steve saw before getting in the forest was her parachute opening. He sighed, relieved.

The forest in the drop zone was pretty open, so it wasn't hard to control his descent in a way he didn't hit any trees. Soon, he could see the Howling Commandos, already getting rid of their parachutes and preparing to march. A few seconds later his feet touched the ground and he immediately looked up.

He was again relieved when he saw Diana approaching, her parachute still opened.

"We have to do this again, Steve!" she exclaimed, even before touching the ground; she landed graceful as a cat.

Steve, however, had more pressing concerns than his excitement.

"Diana, you were flying!" he exclaimed, making every person there turn to her.

She just laughed.

"We all were, Steve," she answered, shaking her head and getting away from the parachute.

"No, I mean, you were floating in the air! Literally flying!" he said, seeing his men's eyes go wide.

Diana frowned.

"Are you certain?" she asked and he nodded immediately. "That never happened before. I remembered almost falling from the treasure tower in Themyscira."

Wait, she didn't know she could do that? How would Howard explain this one, he imagined.

"Well, you were floating," he said.

Diana looked up to the sky, curiosity in her eyes; then she looked back at him.

"I don't know what to say, Steve," she said.

He sighed and took his chocolate bar from his pocket.

"Well, here it is," he said, giving it to her, feeling happier than he should at seeing her smile.

"Thank you!"

While she opened the chocolate, Steve turned to his men.

"It's a two day journey to Lublin, gentlemen. I hope you're prepared to walk."

* * *

 **Moscow – March 27** **th** **, 1992**

Diana washed her face in the sink, trying to remove all the blood and dirt from it; a quick shower hadn't been nearly enough for her to feel clean again after that explosion. But she suspected that no shower in the world would make her feel good after seeing a child exploding herself.

She did not, in her wildest dreams, imagine that would happen. The gunshot from the other one was surprising enough, but that… Diana moved on instinct alone. When the first sparks of the explosion began to appear, soon after the girl pulled the cord, Diana was already in the air, jumping towards the stage. She knew there was nothing she could do to save the girl with the explosives strapped on her, but with luck she could shield the red haired one from the blast.

She had luck, if you could call it that. Diana reached the girl one second sooner than the explosion, using her body to protect her from the flames and the shrapnel. Both of them were sent flying, the girl passed out and she was left with her ears ringing and a destroyed dress.

Running from the theatre using a coat over her naked body, covered in blood and body pieces, with an unconscious and tied up child on her arms was _not_ an experience she wanted to repeat, ever. But at least she managed to arrive at her safe house without meeting anyone in the way.

Right now, the kid was lying unconscious at her bed, cuffed, while she finished cleaning herself. She could only hope the kid knew something; she was giving orders, at least. Because at the moment, there wasn't anything Diana wanted more than to meet the one in charge of the Red Room.

She looked at the mirror, seeing her tired face looking back. Well, no amount of cold water would work right now, so Diana turned and went back to the bedroom. The red haired girl was still asleep, so she got dressed and grabbed a small metal suitcase, taking it to the living room.

Putting the suitcase on the table, Diana opened it, revealing a screen. It was a small computer, made for SHIELD operatives, that she could use to talk directly to Peggy without being intercepted. Turning it on, she waited for Peggy to answer.

Her friend's face appeared on the screen with a big smile.

"Princess, you have no idea how good it is to talk to you!" she said and Diana couldn't help but smile back. "How are you? Is the search going well?"

"Well, I–"

"God, you're hurt!" she exclaimed.

Diana frowned and looked at her reflex in a nearby mirror; there was a drop of blood still on her forehead.

"No, it's not mine," she answered, removing the blood with her finger. "Someone exploded herself on me."

"What?!"

"Peggy, what do you know about the Red Room?" she asked. "I… I met them today, in the Bolshoi Theatre. Fought and defeated all of them. But then… They were just kids, Peggy!"

Diana couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice anymore.

"I thought they were children that stayed behind when the crowd left, but…"

"But they were not," completed Peggy, serious. She held Diana's eyes for a few seconds and then sighed. "Assassins trained from birth, Diana, I warned you."

"I thought they would use them only after they grew up!"

Peggy shook her head.

"No, trained children are very valuable as assassins to them," Peggy said. "Easily underestimated, easily overlooked, but just as deadly. Raised in a way that they simply don't know right from wrong. No conscience, no guilt, complete and absolute loyalty to their masters. That's what the Red Room does."

Diana looked down, feeling the blood thundering in her ears; her hands closed into a fist.

"I saved one of them, a little girl. Maybe… Maybe she can tell me where Madam B. is and then–"

"You can't help them, Diana," Peggy said, her eyes hard. "That… that _thing_ is not a child anymore. Whatever the Red Room did to her… That kid is already dead. What was left is just a husk, incapable of feeling and incredibly dangerous to everyone around. Ask your questions and then… Just, end her suffering, Diana, nobody deserves to live like that."

Diana simply couldn't believe in what Peggy was saying to her. Kill a child? Was she out of her mind?

"How old is the girl? Seven, eight?" asked Peggy. "She is probably part of the Black Widow Program. I encountered some individuals from the precursor program, the one that gave life to this, not long after the World War ended. We managed to get very little information about it during the years, but we know they were grooming little girls to become spies."

"Where did they get those children?"

"Anywhere. Some were kidnapped, some were taken by the government, black market, orphans, bad parents… There is no shortage of unsupervised children in this world, Diana."

"And what did they… What did they do to them?"

Peggy looked down.

"Everything bad you can possibly imagine," she finally answered. "They _unmade_ those children. Took their minds out and placed something else inside. Brainwashing, conditioning, brutal training, experimental drugs… Anything and everything to make them lethal and loyal." Peggy looked at Diana. "I know what you are thinking, Diana. And believe me, I thought the same once. But I met the Red Room operatives before, I know what I'm talking about. Please, believe me. I couldn't bear to know that one of them managed to hurt you because of how they look like."

Because of how they look… It was only then that Diana realized that Peggy truly didn't think they were children anymore. To her, the little girl in her room was something else in the form of a kid, nothing more than that.

She heard Peggy sighing.

"I can see you don't believe me," she said. "And it's alright, I wouldn't believe me either. But you have the Lasso of Hestia with you. Use it and see for yourself. Just… Just be careful, okay?"

Saying this, Peggy turned off the screen, leaving Diana alone again. Closing the suitcase, Diana got up and went back into the room.

* * *

She felt herself waking up little by little, so she didn't move. Her breathing pattern remained unchanged, as did her pulse, just as she was trained to do; failure meant pain, so the body and the mind got used to perform as expected after a while.

Memories began to return. The attack in the Bolshoi Theatre, the enhanced target they were supposed to kill. She knew it was futile to face her directly, if the data they had on her was correct. The woman possessed strength and agility like they had never seen before, enough to dodge and deflect bullets and kill people with her bare hands with ease. From those abilities and from the way the target moved, she theorized the target also had enhanced senses, so surprising her was impossible.

Distraction was the way to go, then. Send obvious threats against the target and mix them with something not so obvious; people rarely expected children to be a threat to them.

And it worked. The target was oblivious to the ploy. The operatives died, but that didn't mean anything as long as the mission was accomplished. She had a clear shot against a distracted target; except the target moved faster than any of their predictions and dodged. When that happened, it was already over for them.

But the mission had to be accomplished no matter the cost.

Her friend – no, she didn't have friends, she had fellow operatives – used her last alternative, against her orders. She exploded herself, the theatre, everyone… Or at least it should have. But here she was, still alive.

Captured, then.

Moving as little as possible, she looked for the cyanide capsule hidden in her mouth; it wasn't there anymore. Her hands were restrained, but that would prove itself no more than a small setback. Her weapons were not there anymore. The injuries on her body were treated, she could smell the medicine; it still hurt, but nothing that would impair her movements.

She did not know where she was, but the sound of cars in the street told her it wasn't a secured place. Escape was possible. She would break her wrist, get rid of the handcuffs and leave. Sneaking out was the best alternative, but killing was acceptable. If faced against an overwhelming force, she would end her life and avoid being recaptured.

Very silently, she started to apply pressure on her wrist–

"I know you are awake, you can stop trying to escape," said a woman's voice.

Her pulse elevated for a second with her surprise; how did she not notice she wasn't alone?

Well, time to change her plans. Opening her eyes, she turned her head to face the one who had spoken; it was her target. Completely unharmed. How was that possible? Masking her incredulity, she quickly looked around, accessing the place. It was a common apartment, not a place she would ever imagine someone like her would be kept.

But that meant nothing. Her target was there. The same woman who had killed all her operatives in a matter of minutes and survived an explosion without being hurt. Any chance she had of fighting her way out was lost.

Adjusting strategy; her green eyes filled themselves with tears.

"P-Please, you have to help me!" she cried, sitting on the bed and looking at her captor. "I didn't mean to hurt you, t-they forced me! Please don't hurt me!"

The woman smiled kindly at her and got up from her chair, approaching. Just like she planned; the target saved her life, despite everything she did. It was not a stretch to imagine she did so because she was a child. Compassion was a terrible weakness.

Crying like a terrified kid, she sniffed and looked at the woman; the target was still smiling when she held her hand and stared at her.

"If I remove these cuffs, what are you going to do?" the target asked.

The words came out from her before she could stop them.

"Gain your trust using the fact that I'm a child, wait for you to sleep and then stab you in the eye."

For the first time in a long while, she lost any control she had over her own pulse; her heart was beating fast with fear.

* * *

Diana sighed, still holding the kid's hand with the Lasso of Hestia.

"W-What have you done to me?" the red haired child asked, actually sounding like a kid for the first time.

"This is the Lasso of Hestia," Diana explained, showing the glowing rope to her. "It burns the truth out of you. So there will be no more lying."

The kid looked at her with wide eyes.

"What is your name?" Diana asked.

"I-I have no nam–"

" _What_ is your name?"

"Natalia Alianovna Romanoff!" she exclaimed, looking surprised and scared at the same time. She looked at Diana. "I-I shouldn't have said that."

"Why not?" she asked, not able to not keep the kindness out of her voice.

"She doesn't like it. I-I'm not supposed to say–"

"Your name?" Diana sat down at her side, never taking the eyes out of her. "You still remember who you were before, don't you?"

Natalia tried to fight the lasso, but it was impossible.

"N-No, I… I _remember_!" she grunted. "But I don't like to. It isn't… Right."

No, Diana supposed it wouldn't be nice to remember a family who was probably already dead by the hands of the very people training her.

"How old are you?"

"Seven."

Diana looked into her eyes.

"Natalia, I can help you. I can free you. If you can tell me where Madam B. is I can take you with me. You'll never have to come back. How does that sound?"

Natalia stared back defiant.

"I would kill you and myself first."

Diana sighed; Peggy was right about the brainwashing, that was clear.

"Why? Why would stay with people that hurt you?"

"I am nothing, the mission is everything. Everything else is secondary. Pain is meaningless."

"Do you really believe your life is worth that little?"

"Yes," she answered immediately.

"And what about the lives of your friends?"

"I have no frien–" She stopped talking with a groan, widening her eyes.

Diana raised one eyebrow.

"It seems you do."

Once again, she looked frightened.

"N-No, I…" She stopped talking.

"Are their lives meaningless too?"

It was clear that the last thing she wanted to do was answer, but she had no option.

"Only the breakable will break. I'm made of marble," she recited.

"Is that what you truly think? Or it was what they said to you?"

"I-It was w-what she said!"

Diana looked into her eyes again.

"If you really believed in that, you wouldn't have tried to stop your friend when she used those bombs."

This time the girl didn't say anything, only looking down. The Lasso of Hestia was an incredible artifact, but it was a dangerous one. Not only because it could force people to tell the truth, but because it forced them to stop lying to themselves. Denials, little lies, confortable thoughts that people crafted to avoid some harsh reality were unmade by the Lasso's magic just as a common lie was.

To someone brainwashed to the point that their own lives meant nothing, finding these little truths inside themselves was as much a gift as it was a curse.

Diana got up from the bed, grabbing a suitcase full of her things. The girl obviously didn't know anything about the Winter Soldier, but she did know about Madam B. and that was enough.

"We are leaving. You are going to tell me where to find your friends, I will rescue them, and then I'll kill Madam B."

Natalie looked at her, appearing to be incredibly lost.

"I won't help you," she managed to say in her low voice.

She lifted the girl like a bag and threw her on her shoulders.

"You don't have a choice."

The kid didn't fight her when she walked out of the apartment, passing the snow filled streets until she arrived where her car was. Diana put Natalie on the passenger's seat and entered the driver's.

The girl looked at her with all the fury she could muster; Diana thought she looked adorable.

" _Baba Yaga!_ " Natalie snarled.

Well, maybe not that adorable.

* * *

 **Poland – January 30** **th** **, 1944**

Steve smiled as he tried to keep the fire burning. It was a cold night and any amount of heat was welcome. They were all sitting around it, deep in the forest still, but close to Lublin; tomorrow they would arrive.

"So there was Steve, in the alley, holding a trash can lid like it was made of vibranium, looking at the bully," said Bucky, telling the story to a wide eyed Diana.

"What happened then?" she asked, brushing his arm when she moved by his side.

"The bully took his 'shield' from him and punched Steve in the face so strongly that he kissed the ground."

The Howling Commandos, waiting for a great tale of bravery, heroism and wit were shocked for a second; then started laughing like crazy. Steve just rolled his eyes.

"Laugh it up," he said. "But don't complain when I accidentally bounce my shield 'wrongly' and hit one of you tomorrow."

Diana was the only one not laughing.

"But… Why were you defeated?" she asked, puzzled. Not surprisingly, she only knew him as Captain America, after all.

Bucky, to his great pleasure, explained: "Steve was _small_ , Diana, really small. Like a toothpick with arms and legs."

Diana turned to him with that look he had learned to fear.

"You told me you are above average!"

And there it was. Everybody stopped laughing for one moment and then restarted, twice as strongly. Steve felt his face burning as much as the camp fire.

"I-It's not what you're thinking!" he tried to explain, before Bucky could say anything. "We j-just had an accident back in Themyscira! She walked in on me while I was bathing."

That was the wrong thing to say, because it made the laughs even louder.

"You've seen him naked?!" Bucky asked Diana, between guffaws.

Diana shook her head exasperated.

"I don't know why you people think that is so absurd," she said, looking at Steve. "Steve has a very beautiful body–"

The laughing got even stronger; Steve could probably fry an egg on his forehead by now.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh," said Bucky, barely able to breathe. "It's just that, I can't imagine Steve's face when that happened."

"He was surprised," Diana admitted. "But I told him, in Themyscira we don't care about nudity. A body is just a body."

"Yeah, but here is different, Diana," said Bucky. "In Themyscira there are only women, right? Well, men and women are different–"

"I know! We are biologically different, that is obvious!"

"That's not what I meant," said Bucky. "Beyond the biology there are… other things too."

Now Bucky was the one red, which was very weird; Steve had never seen him embarrassed when talking to a dame. But Diana really was one of a kind.

"You're referring to the pleasures of the flesh," Diana said, matter-of-factly. "I know all about that."

Everybody was in silence now. Steve looked at her.

"You do?" he asked, his voice out of tune.

"Of course! It was not uncommon for amazons to find lovers among themselves. There are no men in Themyscira, Steve."

Nobody said absolutely anything, they were just looking at her with jaws agape.

"It is not uncommon to happen in Man's World as well," she continued. "In Sparta, the warriors would also do that. It helped to build trust and to strengthen relationships between the troops." She looked around at the Howling Commandos. "You are a very cohesive unity, I've always assumed–"

"No!" they all yelled at the same time.

She turned to Steve and Bucky.

"Jesus, no!" said Bucky.

"No!" Steve denied, red in the face.

Diana sighed.

"Well, maybe you should consider. The Spartans were incredible warriors, it would be wise to emulate them."

"I think that I speak for all of us," began Dugan, "when I say 'Hell no'!"

They all agreed immediately, sitting a little more distant from each other now. They were all in silence for a while, nobody knowing what to say anymore; Bucky, of course, had to ruin that.

"Sooo… You said amazons take lovers?" he asked.

"Bucky!" Steve exclaimed, looking at Diana.

"What?! We were all wondering!"

"Wondering what?" asked Diana, clueless.

Bucky sighed, suddenly not so willing to voice the question.

"If you…"

"If I had lovers?" Diana completed.

Every eye was fixed on her, even Steve's; he blamed Howard's dream for this.

"A few," she admitted. "But no one I truly loved. I guess, being the only child to grow up in Themyscira, most of them couldn't think of me as more than that."

Steve heard Bucky swallowing and he was deeply aware he was touching Diana right now. Damn Bucky and his questions!

"But never with a man?" Bucky asked; Steve burned a hole through him with his eyes.

"Well, no, like I said there are no men in Themyscira," Diana answered. "But I've read all 12 volumes of Clio's treatises on bodily pleasure."

Bucky began to smile.

"All 12, huh? Did you bring any of those with you?"

Diana suddenly smiled too; she looked smug for some reason.

"You would not enjoy them," she said.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe."

"No, no, you wouldn't."

"Why not?"

Diana smile got wider.

"They came to the conclusion that men are essential for procreation, but when it comes to pleasure," she opened her arms, shrugging, "unnecessary."

Bucky was frozen in place, as were all the men around the camp fire.

"No, no–"

"Useless."

"No…"

"Unsatisfactory," she concluded.

"No!" every men there said, looking in shock at each other.

Diana looked at Steve and smiled innocently; he knew immediately that there was nothing innocent behind that cute expression.

"I need to sleep," Diana announced. "Good night."

She leaned on Steve and closed her eyes. Steve laughed a bit of Bucky's still shocked expression and leaned a bit so Diana could find a better position. Tomorrow they would arrive at Lublin and fight the Nazis and HYDRA to acquire proof of their weapons. They could die, they could fail.

But at that moment, Steve was content.

* * *

 **Chapter 7! Hope you like it! Review, favorite, follow... Thanks for everything!**


	8. Chapter 8 - No God's Land

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 8 – No God's Land**

 **Poland, Lublin – January 31** **st** **, 1944**

Steve studied the city from the cover of the trees, using his binoculars. It was a beautiful place, white under the winter's snow, full of houses and churches, cobblestone streets, statues and trees. It had over 100.000 people, according to the information Peggy gave him, or at least it had before the war. It was, by all accounts, a nice and quiet place to live.

Appearances could certainly be deceiving.

It didn't take long, especially looking through the eyes of a soldier, for Steve to see signs of the Nazi occupation. No people in the streets, no children playing in the snow, tanks parked in specific places, not only to guard, but to intimidate. Troops patrolled the city, marching, showing themselves to the local people. Swastika's flags were everywhere, swaying in the wind.

"That is a lot of people," Bucky said, also looking at the city. "We are not fighting through them this time."

No, they were not, Steve agreed. They had an overwhelming force of 8 people: himself, Bucky, Diana, Dugan, Jim Morita, Jacques Dernier, Gabe Jones and Pinky Pinkerton. Sure, he was Captain America, Diana was an amazon and the Howling Commandos were incredible soldiers, but Lublin was simply taken with Nazis and the only reinforcements they had were a few troops of the soviet army a half a day away from there.

They would had to sneak in, acquire proof about the existence and power of the weapon, destroy it and then sneak out again, hoping they could get to the extraction point alive. Problem was, they didn't know where the weapon was, couldn't walk through the city without being identified and had no firepower to fight their way in and out. It was worse than the situation in Turkey and last time that had happened Steve was lucky to survive a plane crash.

"Jim, radio," Steve asked, without looking away from the city.

Jim Morita got by his side and crouched, letting Steve use the radio strapped on his back.

"Peggy, do you copy?" he asked.

There was a moment of silence, and then she answered: " _Good to hear from you, Steve. Are you in position already?"_

"We just got here, but we are not getting in without your contact. Who is he again?"

" _His name is Yuri Bierut, or that is the name he gave me at least. He is a soviet spy infiltrated in Lublin for quite a while. I don't know much about him, but I suppose that if I did he wouldn't be a very good spy, would he?"_

"Does he know how to get us to the weapon?" Steve asked.

" _According to him, he has been guarding it for the past month, so he knows where it is. I will give you the coordinates of the meeting point, it's on the edge of the city. He has been waiting for you there for the past three days."_

Steve marked the coordinates on his map and thanked Peggy. Diana approached, looking at the map.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked.

Diana was unusually quiet since they approached the city. The signs of the war on the way there had shocked her and Steve wasn't exactly surprised about that; he had been shocked too when he first saw the aftereffects of the war. Destroyed homes, hungry people, disease… The small villages they saw from afar on the way there were feeling the war even if not directly yet.

The suffering, however, appeared to only make Diana more focused. Quiet, less happy, but not intimidated in the least. That was something, at least.

"We are going to meet this man and see how he can help us, if he can," Steve answered, putting the map back in his bag. "If he can't, we'll have to think of another way."

Saying this, Steve got up and started leading them to the meeting place, going back to the middle of the forest to avoid being seen. It didn't take long for them to march to the place, everyone walking fast, powered with the adrenalin of the imminent mission, and they saw Bierut before they were seen by him; difficult not too, with Steve's and Diana's heightened senses.

Steve stopped and gave Gabe and Pinkerton a sign; nodding, they separated themselves from the group, rifles in hand. That man was probably who they were looking for, but caution was advised.

He raised his head and pointed his weapon at them when he realized there were people approaching; the Howling Commandos did the same. There was half a minute of tense silence.

"Could I borrow a match?" the man asked, finally breaking it.

Captain America recognized the beginning of the code and opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by Diana.

"What?" she said, looking at him confused.

Steve sighed and Bucky whispered at her: "It's a code, to know if he is the real guy."

"But I can just use my lasso," she whispered back.

"Diana, please! It's how things are done," Bucky said back.

There was a moment of silence when the Howling Commandos and the man they thought was their contact just stared at each other.

"So… Can I borrow a match?" the man asked again. Steve almost rolled his eyes.

"I use a lighter," he recited back, now feeling quite stupid as Diana watched him with a barely contained smile.

"Better still," the man answered.

"Until they go wrong," Steve concluded, controlling himself not to blush as he heard Diana snorting.

The man, now confirmed as their contact, Bierut, lowered his weapon. The Howling Commandos did the same.

"Captain America, it's an honor to meet you," Bierut said, not appearing to be all that honored.

"Nice to meet you too, Bierut," he answered.

Bierut looked around for a second.

"Mind calling your men back? I'm all for caution, but we need to move fast if you want to destroy that weapon."

Steve rose a single eyebrow; Gabe and Pinkerton were professionals and that guy had noticed them skulking around. That spoke a lot about how good he was at his job. Nodding, Steve made a signal and called them back from the trees, approaching Bierut with Bucky and Diana.

"How are we doing this?" he asked.

The spy shook his head.

"Not here, we'll go to a safe house first," he said, and began to walk.

They followed Bierut for a while, until they began to hear water. Soon, they went down a small hill and saw a river and by the side of that river, into the hill itself, was a tunnel, closed with steel bars.

"Sewer… Great," complained Dugan, smelling the place.

"What is this?" asked Diana, looking horrified at the contents flowing into the water.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," answered Steve, with disgust.

Bierut approached the tunnel and touched the bars for a while, as if looking for something; there was a small _CLICK_ and then the whole thing opened, like a gate. He entered, waited for them, and closed it again.

The walk through the sewers seemed longer than it really was, the atrocious smell burning their noses, but at least they didn't have to actually swim in all that, because there was a small place for them to walk. Steve memorized the way as they went, making sure that he would know how to go back alone if there was any need.

Soon, they arrived at a small ladder and Bierut climbed it, opening the hatch very carefully and looking out; then, he gave them a signal to go. One by one, Steve first, they climbed, getting out in a deserted alley and running to the nearby door of a small building.

He breathed relieved when the door closed behind them.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come," Bierut said, guiding them up to the third floor and to a small living room in there, turning on the lights. "Glad to see I was wrong."

Bierut picked a bottle of vodka, took a big swig, and passed it around.

"So, what is the situation?" Steve asked when everybody that wanted a sip had already drank.

The soviet spy sighed.

"Not great," he summarized. "The weapon is at its final stage of construction. Soon, they will be able to use it."

"What is it?" asked Dugan, drinking a sip of vodka. "I mean, we heard it's big, but we have no idea what it is or what it can do."

Bierut laughed in his hoarse voice. Steve couldn't tell how he old he was; he was thin and tall, with blond hair and blue eyes. He was not a handsome man, but also not an ugly one; he had the kind of face that was easily forgettable, something probably very useful in his line of work.

"It is _big_ , you are right about that," he answered, tired. "Way bigger than this whole building. You've seen those weapons those HYDRA bastards have, didn't you? That can shoot energy? Imagine that, but of the size of a house. That is what they are making."

Steve felt himself shiver when he heard that and by the look on the faces of his men they were feeling the same; Diana had her eyes wide.

"What are they planning to do with this?" she asked.

The soviet eyed her with interest for a second, either curious about what a woman was doing there or admiring her beauty, Steve couldn't tell.

"The plan was to build a weapon capable of destroying an entire city with one shot," Bierut explained, mimicking the act of shooting a gun with his hands. " _BAM!_ Blue flash, end of story."

There was a long silence after that. Everybody could only stare, mouths agape, at him. If they allowed that weapon to be built, the war was already over. It was as simple as that. With that kind of power, it would take one, maybe two destroyed cities before the Allies surrendered; no one would dare to continue the war if their cities could just be wiped out from the face of the Earth in a single shot. Europe would be lost and the rest of the world would fall soon after.

They couldn't allow that to happen.

"They call it Mjölnir," Bierut continued, drinking his vodka again. "You know how the Red Skull loves this mythological bullshit, right? The hammer of the Thunder God, capable of summoning storms from the sky." He laughed again. "Stupid name, but very fitting."

"Mjölnir can only be wielded by the worthy," Diana said, looking serious. "It is not a fitting name at all."

Bierut looked at her again, puzzled.

"How do we destroy it?" Steve asked, before the man said anything.

"As far as I can tell, that thing has only four weaknesses: it's expansive, takes too long to be built, difficult to move and it's a glass cannon."

"Glass cannon?" Diana asked.

"Packs quite the punch, but can't take one," Bierut clarified. "As long as we can get to it, we should be able to destroy the thing using explosives. I heard they have plans to mount that thing on special tanks in the future, but I doubt they are that far ahead on the project."

"And can we get to it?" Bucky asked.

Bierut smiled.

"Now that is the true question, yes?" he said. "I'm one of the guards of the factory where they are building it. We make the rounds in five groups of five soldiers, but we can't enter the compound. We are not supposed to, at least."

"So you never actually saw the thing?" Bucky said.

Bierut shook his head.

"Only in the beginning of the construction. But if you can ambush the group of guards I belong to, take their uniforms, we can at least approach the factory and figure out a way to enter. From there, well, I heard you people are good at exploding things."

"We definitely are," answered Jacques Dernier, the Howling Commando's explosive expert.

"But how exactly are we going to cross the city in broad day light until we get there?" asked Dugan.

"We were lucky that you arrived today. You noticed the city's streets are awfully empty, yes? That is not because of the cold. There is a mandatory curfew today, only soldiers are allowed in the streets."

"Why?" asked Steve.

"Because the train is arriving today, bringing a new batch of prisoners. The Nazis like to do a little parade when that happens, you know, a show of power to keep people complacent."

"How does a parade accomplish that?" asked Bucky.

"You know how lions like to hunt buffalos, yes? They go after an entire herd in a group of four or five, hunting creatures that are bigger than them and are in greater numbers. But have you ever stopped to think what would happen if instead of running, the buffalos decided to stand their ground and fight?" Bierut asked. "Sometimes predators have to make a little demonstration of strength to remind their prey that they are there to be eaten, because when the prey forgets that, well… It never ends well for the predators."

It was a pretty good analogy, Steve thought. When you start running, they never let you stop.

"So the troops will move to the train station square," Bierut continued, "taking tanks and flags and making a lot of noise to greet the prisoners. When that happens, we'll have our chance."

"What are these 'prisoners' you spoke of?" asked Steve. "Prisoners of war? Why are they here? Forced labor?"

The Howling Commandos themselves were captured and forced to work in a HYDRA factory once. But apparently, that wasn't the case here, because Bierut just looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"They are going to Majdanek," he answered. "A concentration camp. They are not here to work, they are here to die."

* * *

 **Russia – March 28** **th** **, 1992**

Natalia looked through the car window, seeing the cars passing as they followed the road. Her mind, for once, was blissfully empty as she got lost in the scenery, even knowing that it shouldn't be. Right now, Natalia knew, she should have been using every single ounce of her brain to figure out a way to escape or to at least kill herself.

Problem was she was well aware that she just couldn't.

She tried, of course. Her target had tied her arms and legs with that weird, magical rope of hers, the one that could force her to tell the truth somehow. And then she forced her to tell everything Natalia knew about Madam B. and the Red Room. During her questioning, Natalia tried to cut the rope, but couldn't; then she tried to control herself, to use all her will to stop talking, but also couldn't; and in a final attempt, she tried to bite her tongue off, only to bite, instead, the woman's finger. Her teeth were still hurting.

Simply put, there wasn't anything she could do now, but wait for an unlikely new opportunity. Her target was simply too strong and too fast for her to try anything else and get away with it.

"I'm proud of you," the target said, not looking at her while she drove. "You haven't tried to kill yourself again."

Natalia sighed.

"No point," she answered, not knowing or caring anymore if those were the words she wanted to say or what the magic lasso forced her to say. "We both know you won't let me and I've already told you everything. I'm just waiting for a new chance to escape."

Telling the truth like this was a novelty to Natalia. Not even in the Red Room she was expected to do that. She couldn't and wouldn't, of course, lie to her superiors, in any circumstances, but she never had to, since they already knew everything anyway. Hiding her emotions, however, holding information and pretending was something they trained her for.

And she couldn't do it now, not with that accursed magic rope touching her.

"Does your life really means that little to you?" the target asked.

"Yes," she answered, without hesitation.

"But not the lives of your friends," she stated.

Natalia opened her mouth to deny it, but the words didn't come out. She couldn't even lie to herself anymore. The worst part? She wanted it to be true. She didn't want to care anymore, she wasn't supposed to care anymore. The Red Room came first in everything, that was how it was supposed to be.

But it wasn't how she felt and no matter how much she hid it, the truth was there, inside her and that magic lasso had found it.

"I already told you, I can help them. And you," the target said.

"I don't want your help."

"Doesn't mean you don't need it."

Natalia didn't answer. Instead, she kept looking through the window, in silence. The target drove in silence for a while too, without pestering her with any more questions, but of course it didn't last. Taking one hand off the wheel, she took something out of her pocket.

"Chocolate?" she said, offering her a candy bar. "You know you have to eat something, keep your strength for your next attempt at escaping."

"Don't patronize me!" Natalia answered, but the target was right. Besides, she was hungry.

Without saying anything, she took the chocolate and opened it, sinking her teeth into it.

"Good, huh?" the target asked.

"It's delicious," she was forced to answer, muttering between her teeth. She frowned angrily when she saw the little smile on her target's lips.

She watched her for a second, before looking at the road again.

"I remember the first time I ate chocolate," the target said. "It was in Poland, in the middle of the winter. The man I loved gave it to me." She smiled mischievously as she remembered something. "I told him I liked his smell and he assumed I was talking about the chocolate. Well, it was the chocolate too, but it wasn't exactly what I meant at first."

Against her best attempts, Natalia was interested in what the target was telling her. She didn't know why, though. Maybe it was because she rarely talked with anyone, much less about personal things. Maybe it was because if she knew more about the target, she could find a weakness. Maybe a bit of both.

"Did you tell him that?" Natalia asked, before she could stop herself.

The smile disappeared from her face.

"No, I never did. Things happened, I forgot and then he died. I would've liked to see his face when I told him this, though."

"What happened to him?"

There was a long silence and Natalia honestly thought she wouldn't answer.

"He sacrificed himself to save millions of lives. He was a hero, the greatest hero I've ever met."

That Natalia could understand. Duty, sacrifice, giving your life for something greater. As if reading her mind – and at that point Natalia wouldn't be surprised if she really was reading it – the target looked at her.

"It is nothing like what you are being forced to do," she said. "You are not sacrificing yourself to save lives, you are being used. The war you were raised to fight is over, the men you were supposed to obey are no longer in command. You are being forced to kill people to fill someone else's pocket, that's it. That's the sole reason you and your friends are being tortured and killed."

"You are lying!" Natalia snarled, in a rare fit of rage.

The target simply grabbed the glowing rope with her hand and said: "I'm telling you the truth. And deep down, you know it."

No, she wasn't! It wasn't that simple! Natalia refused to belie– Except she couldn't, not with that lasso around her. Maybe Madam B. had good reasons to train them like that. Maybe she was, in a way, doing some good by eliminating her targets. But she didn't believe, Natalia realized for the first time in her life, that whatever good they were accomplishing was worth the lives of her friends, no matter how much Madam B. told her otherwise.

"You know, the man I told you about said something to me once," the woman said. "He told me: 'When you see something wrong happening in the world, you can either do nothing or you can do something.' What are you going to do, Natalia? Are you doing nothing, thus letting innocent little girls like yourself and your friends be indoctrinated and killed? Or are you going to do something about it?"

Natalia didn't say anything else for a long while.

* * *

 **Poland, Lublin – January 31** **st** **, 1944**

"What do you mean they are here to die?!" asked Diana, eyes wide, looking from Steve to the contact.

Bierut stared at them for almost half a minute, looking truly surprised.

"You don't know?" he finally said. "How can you not know about this? The Nazis have been rounding up people for a while now, sending them to death camps. You must have heard about this by now!"

Diana looked at Steve again, as did every Howling Commando, waiting for an answer; Steve looked pale and unusually serious.

"I've heard rumors about 'undesirables' being arrested in Nazi occupied places, but nothing like this," he finally said.

The soviet spy snorted.

"Yes, it started like that. Political enemies, those who didn't agree with the Nazis. And then it escalated. Common criminals, communists, Jews, gypsies, black people, homosexuals, anyone that could tarnish Hitler's so called superior race or get in the way of his conquests, really."

"What… What are they doing with these people?" Diana asked, her voice very low, already knowing the answer.

Bierut looked at her.

"Like I said, getting rid of them. Either by gas chambers or too much work, hunger and disease, but those who go to those camps don't get out. Not even the children."

Diana looked down, her face stricken with shock. How could people do something like these to each other? She couldn't comprehend the amount of evil someone had to possess inside themselves to even consider doing this. To send men, women, elderly and children to these places simply to die. It was unconceivable. Unthinkable.

It had to be Ares, there was no other explanation. She refused to believe someone else was capable of such evil.

"Steve, we have to do something!" she exclaimed, looking at a shell shocked Steve. "These people, we have to save them!"

"Hey, hey, wait a minute!" Bierut interrupted. "You can't! There is no way to do that! This city is crawling with Nazis, we don't have enough strength to even tickle them. Our mission is to destroy the weapon and that is what we are going to do. Because, lady, if that weapon is finished, the war is over and the world will just be a big death camp for us all."

"Can't you ask for the Red Army to advance?" asked Steve, finally saying something.

"The Red Army isn't even close to be able to take Poland!" Bierut countered. "And if we wait until then, the weapon will be finished and they will be blown to bits!" He looked around. "There is no other way! Do you think I like staying here, watching these people die? I have to do my job! Because if I don't, if _we_ don't, we will lose this fucking war!"

Nobody said anything. There was just a long, heavy silence in the room, as everybody thought about what Bierut had said. Allow these people to be killed, so they could win the war; that was his answer to this dilemma. Diana didn't agree with that.

"We have to try something!" she exclaimed, looking again at Steve. "Steve, we can fight them, together! There must be a way!"

Steve didn't answer. He didn't even look at her. Instead, his eyes were frozen, as if dead, while he stared at the ground, in silence.

"How do we reach the weapon, Bierut?" he asked in a very low voice.

Diana felt as if he had slapped her. Was he seriously considering abandoning those people?

"Steve, you can't–"

"We have to finish our mission, Diana," he said, without looking at her.

She stared at his face in shock.

"We cannot leave without helping them, this people are dying! Children, Steve!"

"I understand–"

"How can you say that?! What is the matter with you?!"

" _Diana!_ " he exclaimed, turning to her. Everybody in the room was looking at her, quiet, sad, but decided. "If we don't destroy this weapon, we lose the war! We are inches away of being defeated, of losing everything! With this thing they can and will defeat us and then there will be _nothing_ that we can do to stop these people from being murdered. We can't… We can't do anything for this people. Not now."

"So we do _nothing_?"

"We _are_ doing something! We are!" he countered, as if even saying that pained him. "We just… We can't save everyone in this war."

And that was it. Diana couldn't even say anything in response. She just couldn't believe in what was happening. Was this what her mother warned her about? Was this the true face of Man's World?

She wasn't even paying attention anymore as Steve discussed his plan with Bierut.

"We'll need four men," Bierut said. "Not him, of course, or him. And not the woman," he said, pointing at the African American Gabe Jones, the Asian Jim Morita and Diana. "No offense, but you aren't exactly proud Aryans, are you? And you'll have to cover that shield of yours."

Steve nodded and pointed at Bucky, Pinkerton and Jacques Dernier.

"We four are going with you," he said and then turned to the rest of them. "The rest of you, stay here. We'll meet you back here after we destroy the weapon. Secure this position, no matter what. It's the only way out we'll have after this, the only way for we'll have any chance to reach the extraction point."

Everybody nodded in agreement and wished them good luck, except Diana, who couldn't muster the strength to even look at Steve anymore. She felt him looking at her for a second and then, sighing, he left through the door with Bierut, Bucky, Pinkerton and Jacques Dernier.

There was an impenetrable silence in the room after that, as if they were in a funeral. And in a certain way, they were, Diana thought. Hundreds of people were going to be killed and they would do nothing. They would just allow it to happen. Diana didn't even realize her hand was clenching until the table she was holding cracked.

Everybody turned to look at her because of the noise, except nobody would meet her eyes.

"You know, Steve is not taking this decision lightly," Dugan finally said, risking looking at her. "I know him, I fought with him. If there is anyone here that would do anything for this people if he could is Steve."

"And yet he is not going to do anything," Diana countered.

"Because there is nothing we can do," Jim said. "Diana, we can't fight them. This isn't something we can solve with courage and bullets. If we go there now, all we are going to do is die."

"And before you say anything," Gabe Jones added, "no, we are not afraid of dying." He looked around, seeing everybody nodding. "If we thought our deaths would free these people, that our sacrifice would save them, we would go there right now. You can use that lasso of yours if you doubt me."

Diana didn't doubt him, but that didn't make things any less bearable.

"But if we die," Gabe continued, "we can't destroy the weapon and take proof of its power back to England. They'll eventually build more of them and we'll lose the war. Those are the facts."

Before Diana could answer, there was a train whistle in the air. The condemned had arrived. She felt something compressing her heart and she could see the same thing happening to the others.

Dugan closed his eyes and sighed.

"Steve was right, we can't save everyone in this war," he said. "This is not what we came here to do."

Diana turned back and looked at the window for a long minute. She did not believe her mother when she warned her about the horrors waiting for her in Man's World, but they were very real. Men, women and children were being exterminated, innocents were dying in a never ending war. It was chaos like Diana had never seen before, something she could barely comprehend.

There was just one thing she was certain about: she would not allow it.

She let her hair fall free and placed Antiope's tiara on her head, tossing her fur cape down. Her red and blue armor glowed in the room, the candle light reflecting on it, as she placed her shield and sword on her back. The Howling Commandos were frozen in place while staring at her.

"It's not what we came here to do," Diana said, her eyes full of certainty, "but it's what _I'm_ going to do."

And before any of them could react, she jumped from the window. She heard them calling desperately for her, but she didn't give it any attention, running to the place where she heard the train whistle. The streets were deserted, cold, not a soul in sight while she passed running, making her way towards the train.

Diana finally saw the square where the train arrived when she got to a large, long and wide cobblestone street. She could see the troops at the other end of the street, in formation, rifles in hand, while some weird anthem played loudly on the radio. 3 tanks and at least 4 automobiles were parked there too, in the large open square, all of them positioned around a single tall statue at the center. The houses and buildings on both sides of the street were covered with Nazi's flags and the people of the city were by the windows, looking out.

It took Diana less than a second to study the environment and then she began to go towards the soldiers, walking the street in slow steps. She could feel the people by the windows turning to look at her, surprised, not knowing what exactly was happening. There were surprised exclamations, questions, people pointing at her.

And then the first soldier, far away on the other side of the long street, saw her.

There was a scream in German, words that Diana didn't pay attention to. The alert was given and the troops turned their backs at the big red train to look at her, while she walked to them without missing a step. One of the soldiers began to walk the square, looking at her and yelling, as if ordering her to stop, but she just ignored him and kept walking, her eyes fixed on them. Their weapons were raised and pointed at her and there was a screamed order again; Diana simply kept walking.

They began to shoot.

Diana saw every bullet crossing the air, her eyes plotting every single trajectory instantaneously as she was trained to do with projectiles. Her heightened senses were fully focused and her muscles were already prepared to react. Of all the shots, only one bullet was coming in her direction; her eyes followed the bullet while she raised her arm calmly, almost disdainfully, and blocked it with her bracelet, the projectile disintegrating itself in red sparks.

The Nazis stopped for a second when that happened, not understanding what was going on, but it didn't last. They started to shoot again and Diana raised her arm to deflect another bullet; a wild grin formed on her lips as she looked at them and began to run.

The bullets kept coming as she approached fast, but Diana simply kept running, deflecting the shots when they were about to hit her and soon every single soldier was turned in her direction, rifles pointed at her. She could see one of the tanks turning, aiming its main weapon in her direction; she grinned again as the tank fired.

It was a loud, thundering noise, but Diana was not intimidated in the least. Without stop running, she grabbed her shield from her back and tossed the explosive shell to the side, the explosion enveloping part of the street. More bullets began to go in her direction now that she was closer, so Diana placed her amazon shield in front of her, the flurry of projectiles hitting it like a never ending storm.

Even so, Diana didn't stop. She kept moving, the bullets hitting her shield and armor as she crouched behind it, the explosion of the tanks shells covering her with flames and smoke. She grunted with the effort, as every shot began to hit the shield nonstop, her arm actually beginning to strain.

Diana walked in slow steps now, her body almost touching the ground while she hid behind her shield, the sounds of the shooting incredibly loud to her ears. She managed to reach the big round square, the tall statue in the middle directly in front of her, as the soldiers gathered in front of it shouting orders and shooting uninterrupted, the train behind them forgotten.

The bullets and the tank shells colliding against her shield were just too much. She gritted her teeth and stood her ground, her feet digging the cobblestone ground as she tried to stay in place, to resist the overwhelming force pushing her. The sound was unbearably loud and the lights were too bright; pieces of the ground and shrapnel hit her armor and skin and she felt them like whip lashes.

She couldn't advance anymore.

* * *

Steve walked in silence as he left the safe house, following Bierut with Bucky, Pinkerton and Jacques Dernier. The streets were empty, not a person in sight, but they moved carefully, fast and through less used paths.

He couldn't believe he was doing this. His chest was hurting and he felt filthy when he gave the order to leave those people behind; he almost stopped when he looked at Diana one last time, knowing that she would never, _ever_ , forgive him for this.

But there wasn't anything they could do. That was the reality of the situation.

It simply wasn't possible for them to fight the Nazis there, they didn't have the strength necessary to do it. Trying to save those people would result in their deaths and a failed mission; and this was one mission they couldn't, in any way, fail. The war depended on them right now.

All sound arguments, but Steve felt his feet stopping.

It took his men a few seconds to realize he was not following them anymore, that he was frozen in place, looking down. They turned to him, frowning, not knowing what was going on.

"I can't do it," he said, finally, his eyes passing through all of them and stopping on Bucky. "I-I can't leave those people to die. I just… I just can't."

None of his men answered, but he could see by their faces that they were thinking the same thing he was. Bierut, however, approached him angrily.

"We can't do anything!" he said. "There is no saving those people, accept it and move on!"

Steve stared at him for a long minute, knowing he was right in every way. But even so, that didn't change his feelings. He shook his head.

"We'll do what we can, then. Together."

Bucky smiled and nodded, always ready to have his back, as did the rest of the Howling Commandos. Steve's mind was working faster than ever now, as he tried to think of a way to save those people. They had no men, no weapons, no way of fighting everyone.

But the city had.

What did Bierut say before? Every once in a while predators had to remind their prey that they were there to be eaten. Well, Steve would have to teach them a different lesson then. He would teach them to stand their ground and fight.

That was when he heard a gunshot.

"Diana!" he exclaimed, immediately knowing what was happening.

Turning, not even waiting to know if they were following him, Steve began to run back, straight in the direction he heard the shooting. He was absolutely certain that Diana hadn't stayed back as he ordered; he should've known she wouldn't. And he couldn't exactly blame her, could he?

Running faster than ever, everything becoming a blur as he passed, Steve reached the long street where he could see the train square. And where he could see an entire Nazi troop shooting against Diana, who was crouching behind her shield, pinned down.

Steve didn't even slow down, running towards her, raising his shield in front of him; Bucky, Pinkerton, Jacques Dernier and Bierut followed him, several meters behind. All the fire was concentrated on Diana, she couldn't go forward or retreat, but that meant Steve and the Howling Commandos were free to act.

Taking a grenade from his belt, Steve pulled the pin and tossed it, his enhanced strength making sure the grenade fell all the way from where he was right at the feet of the Nazis; they only noticed when the explosion swallowed them. The explosion killed several of them and broke their formation, making the shooting stop for a second.

That was all Diana needed to advance.

* * *

Diana didn't see Steve or the Howling Commandos arriving, but when the grenade exploded she knew they had arrived. Smiling, knowing that she wasn't alone in the fight anymore, Diana advanced forward with all her speed once the shooting against her stopped.

She was a blur in the air and then she was in the middle of them. Diana drew her sword and began slashing, spinning, hitting in all directions with her blade and shield. The Nazis couldn't do anything against her, not when she was in the middle of their formation and all they had were rifles.

Godkiller ripped them apart and Diana covered the street in blood and body parts as they screamed in fear and panic. Her shield hit three of them at the same time, sending them several meters to the sky, only for them to clash against the ground already dead. Not stopping to fight even for a second, Diana turned, her shield already in position, deflecting a tank shot against another tank, the explosion destroying it.

The Nazis began to run away, not even bothering to take their weapons with them, when Steve and the Howling Commandos arrived, Steve's shield flying against the soldiers alongside their bullets. Diana could see Dugan, Jim and Gabe arriving at the same time too, also shooting.

Seeing that they had the situation with the soldiers under control, Diana jumped on top of a tank, burying her sword in the hatch and ripping it apart, only to take the soldier from the inside and toss him out against the ground. And then she jumped against the other one, colliding against it with such strength that the metal bended, using her arms to lift one of its sides, toppling it upside down.

When the last tank fell, the last threat there was gone and there was a minute of silence. Diana turned to look at Steve, giving him a big smile, still not believing how happy she was that he came back. Then she looked at the Howling Commandos.

And they were staring at her, paralyzed, their eyes incredibly wide and mouths opened.

Not knowing why exactly they were staring at her like that, Diana smiled at them too, thanking them for coming to her aid, and turned to the train, ripping its door open; a huge group of people inside it, composed by men, women, children and elderly, looked at her with fear in their faces.

"It's alright, you are safe now," she said in Polish and then in German, as they looked at her wide eyed.

While she opened the other doors, releasing the prisoners, she could hear Steve giving orders to Pinkerton and Gabe Jones to take them to safety. He called Jim and grabbed the radio on his back.

"Peggy, do you copy? I'm going to need those reinforcements now!" he said and Diana didn't stop to listen what Peggy answered.

"Bierut!" Diana yelled. "Where is Majdanek?"

The soviet spy, still shocked to his core from seeing what had just happened, pointed with shaky hands to a path that went through the city. Following his hand, Diana saw the Nazis retreating towards that way, until the buildings ended and an open field appeared. And there, some kilometers away from Lublin, Diana could see Majdanek with her perfect eyesight.

"Steve! Come on!" she called, starting to run in that direction.

Steve nodded and called: "Bucky and Dugan with me! The rest of you, give these weapons to those people and stand your ground! The soviets are coming to help us!"

Diana was running already, passing through the streets in great speed, seeing the people in the buildings starting to come out as they realized what had happened. They passed them fast, turning to the right, meeting a few Nazi soldiers in the street; they didn't even have time to raise their weapons as Diana clashed against them, not even slowing down.

She could see Steve, Bucky and Dugan approaching behind her, when a Nazi soldier began to shoot at them from one of the buildings on their left. Speeding up, Diana jumped against a wall, her hand digging itself in the bricks, as she used it to propel herself all the way up against the window from where the Nazi was shooting.

The glass shattered when she crashed against it, killing the soldier at the same time, and she glided to the middle of the room; there was a second of silence as the soldiers in the room turned to look at her. Grinning, Diana kicked a table against two of them, sending it flying in the air, already raising her shield to defend herself from the bullets. Turning, she used her sword against the Nazis close by, hitting their necks, and jumped forward against the remaining three, crushing them with her shield and destroying the wall behind them.

She fell back out, at another street, right on top of a car, turning it into scrap. Not stopping, Diana jumped against the troops advancing in the street before they had the chance to even realize what was going on, defeating them all. And then, sensing its presence, she raised her shield right at the moment a tank behind her shot, deflecting the shell to the side.

The soldier on top of the tank looked at her with his jaw agape; Diana was grinning when she crashed against the tank with all her strength.

* * *

Steve was running through the streets with Bucky and Dugan, the whole city in complete chaos. There were gunshots everywhere, bombs exploding in the distance, screaming. People where running in the streets in huge groups, attacking the Nazis with stolen rifles and improvised weapons.

It was as if what happened in the square had woken them up; the civilians saw the Nazis losing and the myth that they couldn't be beaten fell.

He had lost sight of Diana when she jumped several meters in the air and went inside a building, but he could hear the panicking yells and the gunshots nearby, so he knew she wasn't far. And at the moment he thought that, the building a few meters in front of them collapsed, as a tank was thrown through it.

"Holy shit!" yelled Bucky, seeing the huge tank rolling in the street as the building fell and Diana rising from the dust in great speed right behind.

"What the hell?!" Dugan exclaimed, as they continued to run, passing the destroyed tank and seeing Diana jumping against another building, using her own body to make a hole in the wall and enter.

They could hear shooting, screaming and slashing sounds and then a Nazi was thrown through the window, falling in front of them, just as Diana broke another wall and jumped on top of a roof, running nonstop.

Steve had no words to describe what he was seeing. He knew Diana was enhanced as he was and he knew she was stronger than he was, but what she was doing was unbelievable. And it appeared that she was getting even faster and stronger as she went on, jumping from roof to roof.

"Do you see that, Steve?" asked Bucky, panting. "Now you understand how it is when we try to follow you."

Dugan grunted in agreement, too tired from the running to actually talk, as Diana jumped down to another street and the gunshots and yelling began again. There were a few seconds of fighting and then Steve saw a car being tossed to the sky, crashing against a building nearby.

"Jesus Christ! What is that girl made of?!" Bucky yelled, as they aimed against a few Nazis appearing in the street.

Steve had absolutely no idea of what Diana was made of, but he could honestly see why she said a god had made her, because what she was doing was simply not possible.

More and more people began to take the streets as they approached the edge, huge crowds of people going everywhere, attacking every man wearing a Nazi uniform. The Nazis, of course, were shooting back against them, but instead of scaring the civilians, every person they killed seemed the make them more furious.

They crossed a huge fight between a Nazi troop and a horde of people, only to see Diana dropping from the top of a building right at the middle of the Nazis, a battle cry leaving her mouth as she did it. She simply passed through the soldiers as if they weren't there, her sword and shield slaughtering them in ways Steve couldn't believe it was possible, and then she kicked the car forming the barricade against the remaining soldiers.

The crowd of civilians was in complete silence for a second and then began to cheer, going forward with even more energy.

"Steve! This way!" she yelled, finally leaving the buildings to the open field, running towards Majdanek.

Steve, Bucky and Dugan followed, trying to keep up.

* * *

Diana was running faster than she had ever before, the fields passing in a blur around her. She could see Majdanek approaching, the gate facing her direction a few kilometers away, the entire place surrounded by tall fences of barbed wire and towers.

At each step she gave, the concentration camp became bigger, its huge dimensions taking the field before her. She could hear Steve, Bucky and Dugan running behind her, but she didn't slow down.

Soon, there were yells and bullets rained in her direction; lifting her shield, she deflected them and kept moving, ignoring the gunshots as she sped up. The wooden gates in front of her became even bigger as she got closer and Diana grinned, putting even more strength in her legs.

And then she crashed against them.

The thundering collision was unbelievably loud and the gate was simply disintegrated. The shockwaves of the hit destroyed the base of both guard towers at its sides, making them collapse with the soldiers still on it.

Diana didn't stop for a second, running forward, passing through the barbed wired fences as if they weren't even there and running in the middle of the compounds. The prisoners turned to look, surprised, imagining what was going on, when Diana jumped to the center of Majdanek, her sword pointed at the soldiers below.

That was when a tank fired at her.

She raised her shield barely in time to avoid getting hit, deflecting the shell away, but losing her shield while doing so; it flew away from her, as she fell on the ground. Yelling in rage, Diana dashed forward and hit the tank with her shoulder, sending it rolling away against a watch tower.

There was a moment of silence as she looked around, seeing the soldiers approaching, focusing her senses to be able to know exactly what she would have to expect; then the shooting began. Diana dodged the first bullets, raising her arms to deflect some back at the Nazis. Grabbing her lasso, she wrapped it around a soldier's legs, tossing him against his companions.

Bullets were coming from every direction and Diana was a blur in the air as she moved, her bracelets deflecting everything that she couldn't dodge and her golden lasso hitting her opponents in a flurry of golden attacks. Diana had never, in all her life, moved so fast or fought against that many people at the same time.

That was when she saw a familiar red and blue shield passing at her side and hitting a soldier that was about to shoot her.

Diana was already smiling as she turned, seeing Steve arriving, grabbing his shield back as it bounced on the soldier. They stood back to back, fighting, deflecting the bullets, moving with such synchrony that Diana felt that she had trained with him for thousands of years, just as she did with her fellow amazons.

Bucky and Dugan arrived a few seconds later, shooting with impeccable aim, dropping the Nazis from the watch towers, while Diana and Steve danced in the middle of the battlefield, her lasso and his shield proving to be an amazing combo. Majdanek's guards simply couldn't stand a chance against them.

And then, just as sudden as it had started, it was over. Diana looked around, seeing the Nazis defeated, the prisoners glued against the fences to look at them in awe. She smiled at them and them at Steve, touching his shoulder for a moment. He looked at her, tired looking, but also smiling and for a moment Diana was lost in those blue eyes.

"SNIPER!" yelled Bucky.

Diana and Steve jumped back at the exact moment a bullet passed between them, hitting the ground. Looking up, focusing again, Diana found the shooter on the top of a watch tower. Raising her arm, she deflected another shot, while she and Steve retreated, trying to cover themselves, grabbing her shield back as she passed by it.

The tower was simply too tall for her to jump and she couldn't climb while defending herself. Bucky and Dugan were trying to shoot at the sniper, but he was much better positioned than them, not giving them a chance to try. That was when Steve tapped her shoulder.

She looked at him as he ran back to where they were before, to the middle of the field, directly in front of the watch tower. The sniper tried to shoot him, but he used his vibranium shield to protect himself, as he kneeled, the shield on top of him.

And then he tapped it.

"Diana, shield!" he yelled.

Diana remembered her amazon training instantly and her muscle memory brought her forward before she even realized what she was doing. She ran to Steve and jumped, her feet touching his vibranium shield at the same moment he used all his strength to give her a boost. Diana was propelled to the sky, rising to the air as if she was flying, her shield in front of her.

And then she clashed against the tower.

The collision was incredibly strong, bringing the entire brick tower to ruin in a single hit, the top basically turning to dust as the shockwave thundered in the sky. Pieces of it fell to the ground, the debris hitting the floor the only sound they could hear now.

That's when the cheers began.

Everywhere, from all directions, the prisoners watching the battle were clapping, yelling and laughing. Diana walked on the top of the tower and looked down, seeing everyone looking at her, their faces filled with happiness and hope; she felt herself beginning to smile too.

Her eyes met Steve's as she looked at him and her own smile grew. They had done it. They saved those people. And the people in the town were fighting for their own freedom right now. Raising her eyes, she looked at the city, prepared to go back and finish the fight, to defeat the Nazis, HYDRA and then destroy their weapon. To accomplish the mission they were given.

Diana could hear the battle still going in Lublin, but the cheers weren't coming only from Majdanek; they were coming from the city too. It was not over, but the civilians were winning. Opening her mouth to give Steve the good news, Diana snapped her head back at the city again when she heard a loud sound.

She could see a huge building in the middle of Lublin falling apart, dust rising to the sky, and then a bright blue light shining.

HYDRA's Mjölnir was finished and they were preparing to unleash its power.

* * *

 **New chapter! And this one is big, I hope you like it!**

 **Interesting fact: Majdanek was actually a real concentration camp. It was the first big concentration camp captured by the Allied Forces before the Nazis had the chance to destroy the evidence, finally giving them an idea of the horrors going on in those places. In real life, it was captured in July, 1944, by the Red Army.**

 **Anyway, review, favorite, follow, tell me what you thought about it! Thanks for everything!**


	9. Chapter 9 - Hammer, Horse and Spider

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 9 –** **Hammer, Horse and Spider**

 **Poland, Lublin – January 31** **st** **, 1944**

Diana's eyes could see clearly all the way to Lublin from the top of the tower where she was standing. She saw a big building collapsing, a dense cloud of dust rising, and then the shadow of a truly _immense_ form in the middle of it. There was a loud noise, like the powerful roar of an engine, and the shadow moved, dispersing the dust.

There, in the middle of Lublin, Diana could see HYDRA's Mjölnir, a huge cannon pointed in their direction, directly to Majdanek. And under it, where Mjölnir was mounted on, was the biggest tank Diana had ever seen.

She wasn't an expert when it came to Man's World technology, but Steve had shown her pictures of vehicles of war and she had encountered and destroyed some of them not too long ago, in Lublin. What she was seeing now, however, made every single tank she saw before look like a toy. It was the size of a building, tall, grey and intimidating, with large tracks to move and eight mounted turrets, four on each size; Diana read the runes carved in the metal of the tank, her inborn gift to understand any language translating them to Sleipnir. And on its top, of course, was Mjölnir, managing to be even bigger than the tank under it.

Diana watched as Mjölnir moved, aiming; a blue, blinding glow started to shine. And then it fired, right in Majdanek's direction.

The noise was like if a thousand thunderbolts hit the ground at the same time and the shining light would've blinded her if she wasn't an amazon. Even so, Diana didn't hesitate when she moved, jumping forward, calculating where the blast would hit. She saw the blue energy rising to the sky and curving, starting to fall. And there, at that exact spot, was where Diana landed, her bracelets crossed in front of her face, pointing up.

And then it hit her.

Diana's whole body shook and she had to use all her strength to remain where she was. The blast hit her bracelets with so much power that she closed her eyes, beginning to feel the skin of her arms burning. But even so, her bracelets didn't break, absorbing the energy blast, the huge blue beam disappearing inside them with a weird sound.

She gritted her teeth, using every last inch of strength she possessed to remain in the same position, but suddenly the ground under her feet broke, making her arms move; the explosion that followed knocked Diana back with such power that her body broke several buildings before one of them finally collapsed on top of her.

The last thing she thought before the debris covered her was that she managed to stop Majdanek's destruction, at least for now.

* * *

"DIANA!"Steve yelled, running to the collapsed building with all his speed.

He couldn't believe in what he had just seen. The power of HYDRA's weapon had made the air around it burn and he had to close his eyes when the energy blast hit, such was the glow. And the noise; Steve had to stop himself from using his hands to cover his ears, his very bone's shaking when the shot came down.

Majdanek and half of Lublin would have been turned into ashes if it weren't for Diana.

He was praying that he could find her still alive when he began to dig, his hand tossing huge debris pieces away while he desperately looked for her. Steve couldn't even breathe properly, the weapon back in the city completely forgotten for now.

"Please, please, please…" he chanted, without even realizing, his hands beginning to bleed when he removed the debris.

Suddenly, the whole thing shook and a single hand appeared, as if coming from underwater. Steve leaped in the hand's direction immediately, grabbing it, using his other hand to try to remove the debris from around that place; his heart almost jumped out of his chest when he felt the hand clenching his own.

"It's going to be alright, Diana, I promise. Hang on!" he said.

And finally he could see her face. Getting up, Steve used all his weight to move a truly massive piece of building from over Diana, now knowing where she was, and then she got up, coughing like crazy, her arms burned in horrific ways.

But alive.

Steve didn't even notice when he hugged her, pulling her close, his face touching hers: "Thank God!" he whispered.

He felt her hands hesitantly touching his back and then his mind finally caught up with him; he released her fast.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?!" he asked, beginning to check her, almost kicking himself for potentially making her wounds worse when he hugged her.

"I am fine, Steve," Diana answered, but she sounded in pain. "Only burned and a bit bruised, but it will pass."

Steve followed her gaze, seeing her looking at the town.

"It will shoot again," she announced. "We have to destroy it before it can power up."

It was only then that he remembered there was a weapon still there, ready to kill them all. Turning to Bucky and Dugan, while Diana jumped from the collapsed building, he pointed to Lublin.

"Time to finish the mission."

He only hoped they could do it.

* * *

 **Russia – March 28** **th** **, 1992**

Diana stopped the car, looking through the windshield, seeing the unassuming ballet studio on the other side of the street. Such a common place, nothing extraordinary about it at all. One wouldn't look at it and see anything that shouldn't be in any other ballet studio anywhere in the world.

Who would know that such a place was the training ground of some of the most deadly assassins in the world?

Girls like Natalia were there, right now, dancing; except the dance wasn't ballet and the girls would never be ballerinas. They would be merciless killers, brainwashed until they followed the Red Room's commands over anything else, incapable of feeling anything else. No more than killing machines who looked like children.

Diana turned to Natalia, seeing the girl's eyes fixed on the studio. The Lasso of Hestia was helping her, forcing the brainwashed child to question everything she was taught, to realize if what was in her mind was because of her or because it was forced there. While bound by the lasso, she couldn't lie even to herself and that was being invaluable in opening the girl's eyes.

Of course, without a powerful mind of her own, there wouldn't be anything else inside her mind other than loyalty to the Red Room. The lasso was doing its job, but it was only because Natalia refused to be broken that it had any effect in that sense whatsoever. If Natalia's own morals didn't see anything wrong about what she was doing before, than the lasso would be useless in that regard.

But the girl still knew right from wrong. Still had empathy. Still could see that what she was being forced to do wasn't a good thing. That was all her and Diana couldn't imagine how strong willed she must've been to resist for so long in the hands of those people, according to what Peggy told her.

"What are you going to do?" asked Natalia, not looking at her, hands and feet still bound by the lasso.

"I'm going to find Madam B. and force her to answer my questions. And then rescue every one of your friends," Diana answered.

Natalia didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then she turned and looked at her.

"Why?" she asked, almost whispering.

Diana held her gaze.

"You know why." She moved a strand of her red hair out of her face. "Because I think what they did to you was wrong. And because _you_ know it was wrong."

"I'll still kill you if I have the chance," Natalia said.

She smiled.

"Then I just won't give you the chance."

* * *

Madam B. looked at the girls aligned in the center of the room, her eyes assessing every single one of her future Black Widows. They were still so young, so innocent… She would take great pleasure in molding them, making those beautiful girls into the most fearsome assassins in the world.

Her mind went to her lost spider, little Natalia; she almost sighed. She had such hopes for her. Natalia was her best student and even in her infancy Madam B. could tell she was born for greatness. She just needed a little push in the right direction, a little help so she could dance at her best. Skill wasn't her problem; her heart was.

Still, the girl was obedient. Even reluctant, she performed her missions to perfection. With time she would realize what truly mattered and become what she was meant to be.

Or she would, had she not been captured. Madam B. thought, at first, that she was dead. After that mess in the Bolshoi Theatre, with every single assassin she sent failing to come back, it was hard not to imagine that she had succumbed there as well. Destroyed, together with their target, by the explosion.

A careful analysis showed otherwise. Neither her nor the target had died, what left her with only one other conclusion: somehow, the target survived and captured her.

What her target could do was unbelievable. Her information had told her that much, but seeing her agents being defeated so easily was shocking. She knew there were enhanced people out in the world, she had even crossed paths with some, but that? That was extraordinary.

And now one of her own was captured. Dead agents were easy to deal with, they could always be replaced, but captured ones were a risk.

Madam B. knew little Natalia would die before talking and that no amount of torture would break her. But she also knew that there were whispers that her target was more powerful than she could possibly imagine, powerful enough to even _force_ people to tell the truth, even when they'd rather die first.

That put her and her operation at risk. She needed to enact protocol and disappear until the target had been dealt with. Her assassins would be working without guidance, on their own, hunting down that bothersome woman. Some of her girls, however, weren't ready for that.

Walking to the middle of the room, her heels clicking, she stopped in front of a blond girl. A pretty thing, like all her girls, with blond hair and blue eyes, no more than six years old. The girl didn't look at her, exactly like she was taught to do, looking always to the front, her expression vacant. Smiling, she touched the girl's face softly, her thumb caressing her lips; such a beautiful woman she would become.

"Look at me," she commanded and was promptly obeyed.

Madam B. stared at her blue eyes for a long time and then extended her hand; another one of her girls, this one a bit older, gave her a small pistol.

"One of us was captured," Madam B. announced to the room. "Our assassins were sent to dispose of a target, but the target proved herself to be more resilient than we thought. So now we'll have to go our separate ways, to hunt alone, until the matter is dealt with."

She smiled once again to the girls, still holding the blond by the chin.

"I fear, however, that some of you aren't skilled enough in the dance to do that," she said, sadness in her tone. "It is not your fault, you just didn't have enough time. But such are the circumstances, my dears."

Saying this, she released the girl's chin and put the pistol on her hand, forcing her to point it at the older girl, the one who had just given her the weapon.

"Prove to me that you are ready, my dear. Kill your sister."

Her mask of indifference was dropped for a second, when she looked at the older girl, with hair and eyes so similar to her own. When Madam B. said "sister" she meant it literally; both of them were taken together, after the Red Room disposed of their parents. The older girl was five years older than her sister when that happened and was sent directly to be trained, while her sister was but a toddler and had to wait.

Given time, both of them would be perfect agents, but right now only one of them had completed their dancing.

The young girl held the pistol firmly, pointing at her sister's face. The older girl showed no signs of fear or hesitation, only looking in the eyes of her younger sister with a blank expression. The young one tried to mimic that, but couldn't, her hands beginning to shake. Her cold expression vanished, a look of despair taking its place. She looked at Madam B., a single tear falling through her face.

"Oh, my dear, don't fret," she said, taking the gun from the girl and hugging her. She kissed her forehead and wiped the tear off her face. "This was only a test."

She gave the pistol back to the older girl.

"And you failed."

The younger girl didn't have the chance to look at her sister for one last time before she fired. She fell down, blood raining upon the other girls, who didn't move even when the loud sound of the gun echoed in the room. The older girl didn't even look at the sister she had just murdered.

Clapping her hands, as if she were a teacher in a children's school, Madam B. turned around, smiling. As she did this, the older girls in the room approached, giving pistols to the girl aligned.

"It pains my heart to say this, but it is clear to me that you are still too young for this," she said and then looked at them. "Put those guns against your own heads."

As if they were one, each girl put the pistols against their temples, their gazes still vacant. It really did pain Madam B. to do this. Such a promising batch she had here. No one close to Natalia's skill, of course, but oh well…

"Fire," she ordered.

But before they could, the wall exploded.

* * *

Diana was still in the car when she heard the gunshot; she knew, instantly, that one of the kids was dead. Not even bothering about taking Natalia, moving as fast as she could, she opened the door and crossed the street, becoming a blur.

And punched the wall with all her strength.

The wall exploded under her fist, becoming dust instead of breaking into several pieces. The cloud of dust filled the room, blinding everyone but her, and she entered, seeing the kids in the middle holding their guns to their head. Fury filling her entire being, Diana dashed towards them, hitting them with enough strength to send them down, but not to hurt them badly.

When the last young girl dropped, the dust had settled down and the guards saw her. They began to fire, still coughing because of the dust, and Diana deflected the bullets back to them, not even bothering to look. One of the girls, an older one, tried to shoot her to, only to be backhanded into unconsciousness.

Madam B., by Natalia's description, was the only one left in the room, looking at her with a surprised face, but Diana could hear more people coming. Jumping forward, Diana punched her in the face, throwing her down, right at the moment several armed men busted through the closed door. The men took a second to understand what was happening and pointed their rifles at Diana; the second they needed, though, was more than enough for her to act.

Diana attacked so fast that the men didn't even have time to fire, colliding against the first one with such strength that all of them crashed together. The men were big, muscled like only trained agents could become, but that hardly mattered to Diana's godly strength; she felt their bones turning to dust when she hit them, as if they were attacked by a moving train instead of a woman.

Not even looking at them again, Diana already turned, deflecting the shots coming from the assassins coming down the stairs, sending the bullets back at them. She ran through the corridor, jumping all the way up to the second floor, where she could hear the last people arriving.

She arrived there at the same time one man tried to come down the stairs, grabbing his head and tossing him all the way down even before she landed. The last two men were in the middle of the corridor, too shocked to move, so Diana just ran to them, jumping and hitting both at the same time with her legs and then twisting in the air to fall back standing.

There weren't any more people in the building.

* * *

When Natalia saw Diana running to the studio she felt dread fill her. She knew something had happened, because she didn't even bother to restrain her to the car. She watched as Diana punched the wall and entered and then she began to hear gunshots, now that the sound could pass freely.

For the first time since the beginning of her training, Natalia felt herself hesitating as to what she should do. She knew what she was _supposed_ to do; run there and help Madam B., preferably killing the target. That wasn't what she _wanted_ to do, however.

Should that matter? No. The only thing she was allowed to want was the success of her missions. Her will belonged to the Red Room. _She_ belonged to the Red Room. Her mind, her skills, her body, her life… Every single thing she had was an asset to be used and nothing more. That was what she was taught.

It wasn't how she felt.

The lasso around her didn't allow her to lie, even to herself, and it was telling her that she didn't believe in this as strongly as she suspected before. Natalia was surprised by that. Her surprise, however, was forgotten when she heard a loud crash in the studio. She didn't know what she would do when she arrived there, but she was going anyway.

Opening the car's door, walking with some difficulty because of her bound legs, Natalia ran as fast as she could to the wall Diana had broken. Only to freeze completely by what she saw.

Her companions, all her fellow agents, all her _friends_ were fallen down, perfectly aligned in the center of the room. For one second, her mind was paralyzed, seeing all of them dead. It was only when the dust moved closely to one of their faces that she realized they were alive.

All but one.

Watching with attention, Natalia studied the room. Her green eyes passed from the dead girl to the unconscious ones, seeing that each and every one of them was holding a gun. She knew what this was. A test. A test she had beaten before. Madam B. wanted to know which ones of them were loyal enough to kill, not only whoever she ordered, but themselves as well.

But they were too young for this test, Natalia knew.

Before she could arrive at her conclusion, she heard a groan nearby. Looking from the collapsed girls, Natalia finally spotted Madam B. fallen on the ground, a huge bruise on her face. Not knowing why, she felt her entire body burning with rage.

She shouldn't be feeling this. Emotions clouded rationality, so she was trained to suppress them. And she shouldn't, in any circumstance, be feeling rage when looking at Madam B. She hadn't before, she knew this. The training in the Red Room was brutal, but Madam B. was always there for here, encouraging her, hugging her…

" _To gain your trust._ " The voice in her mind whispered at her, coerced by the power of the lasso.

Madam B. didn't care about her and she never did, Natalia knew this. She always did, perhaps, but she had to believe _someone_ cared about her. She didn't care about her friends. She didn't care about anything other than her. That was the truth she now knew. That was how she could hurt them again and again and again and smile after.

Her hands shaking, Natalia approached Madam B., grabbing a pistol on the way. Diana had punched her by the size of the bruise on her face, but not strongly enough to put her down; which meant she needed her awake to make her questions. Passing through the pool of blood of the dead girl, not bothering about her ruined shoes, Natalia got closer to Madam B.

It took a few seconds until Madam B. could finally open her eyes; she gasped when she saw Natalia.

"My dear child, I thought I would never see you again!" she said and against everything she knew Natalia felt a tug in her heart. "We need to get away from here!"

She tried to get up, but her legs were still weak, so Natalia offered her a hand.

"Aren't you the polite one?" Madam B. said, holding her bound hands to try to pull herself up.

Right where the golden lasso was.

"Did you kill Veronica?" she asked.

"No, I forced her sister to kill her," Madam B. answered immediately.

She froze, probably having the very same reaction Natalia herself had when the lasso forced her to tell the truth for the first time.

"Why?" Natalia asked, looking at Madam B.

This time she didn't answer straightaway, her face showing surprise and pain when she tried to keep quiet. But, as Natalia knew well, it was useless.

"Because I thought it was amusing," Madam B. answered.

Natalia fired her gun before she even knew what she was doing.

* * *

 **Poland, Lublin – January 31** **st** **, 1944**

"Oh my God! What the hell is that thing?!" yelled Bucky, when he finally saw the huge tank. "I thought Bierut said they weren't that far in the project yet!"

Yes, that bit of information was completely useless, Steve had to agree. Still, there was nothing they could do now. The weapon needed to be destroyed all the same. They were running through the streets of Lublin, Steve, Bucky, Diana and Dugan, hoping they could arrive and destroy the whole thing before it could fire again.

The streets were filled with panicking people, everyone running away from the direction the tank was. Sleipnir, as Diana called it, Odin's mythological eight-legged horse or, according to Diana, Odin's very real eight-legged horse. It didn't matter now, anyway.

Turning in a corner, Steve saw a Nazi troop running away too, as if they were as afraid of Sleipnir and Mjölnir as everybody else. Curious, but, again, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. At each step they gave, the noise of the tank's engines grew louder.

As did the gunshots.

There were people firing against that thing and he could think of just one group of people crazy enough to do that: the Howling Commandos. Smiling, Steve began to run faster, leaving Bucky and Dugan a few meters behind when only Diana managed to keep up. And there, hiding behind a toppled building, were the rest of his men: Jim Morita, Jacques Dernier, Gabe Jones, Pinky Pinkerton and, surprisingly, Bierut as well.

"It's Steve!" yelled Pinkerton when they approached. "And the wonder lady! You are a sight for sore eyes, my friends!"

Before any of them could answer, there was a flurry of blue energy shots over them, hitting the buildings around. Crouching, Steve approached his men.

"What do we have here?" he asked, daring a small look at the behemoth in an open space in the middle of the toppled buildings.

"We have some sort of metallic Satan, Captain," Jim Morita answered, shooting blindly against the tank. "Four automated turrets on each side, shooting those HYDRA blue things, more armor in a tank than I had ever thought possible and – because why the fuck not? – a cannon that can destroy whole cities on top of it."

"I thought you said it wasn't on a tank yet!" Bucky yelled at Bierut, soon after he got there.

The soviet opened his mouth to answer, but the tank chose that moment to advance upon them.

"Scatter!" Steve yelled, just as Sleipnir crushed the rubbles they were hiding behind, its huge tracks passing over them as if there wasn't anything in its path.

Each one of his men ran to a different direction, looking for the next cover, jumping behind them as soon as they could because the automated turrets began to fire as soon as they sensed movement.

"Jacques!" Dugan yelled. "Don't you have anything to destroy that thing?"

The French explosive expert took something out of his bag.

"This should destroy the turrets, but not the tank!" he yelled back. "But I only have one and if I toss it the turrets will vaporize it!"

"Give it to me!" yelled Diana.

* * *

Every single soldier turned to look at her as she extended her hand to Jacques.

"I can get closer, if you distract the weapons!" Diana said, as the tank began to turn again.

Without hesitation, Jacques tossed the explosive to her; Diana couldn't help but smile. It was good to have the people fighting with you believing in your capabilities.

"Steve, give me some cover!"

Nodding, Steve jumped over the debris, his shield raised, and ran to the middle of the empty square where the tank was. Immediately, the turrets began to fire against him, only to see the shots being deflected by the vibranium. Not wasting any more time, Diana jumped over her cover as well, running towards Sleipnir, the explosives hidden behind her shield.

She felt the first shots being fired upon her and her burned arms tingled, but she didn't stop running, the blue energy being blocked by her shield. Yelling, Diana jumped forward, climbing the tank, sticking the explosive by the side of the turrets and jumping all the way to the other side.

The weapons continued to fire against her even while she was in the air and she had to use her shield and sword to deflect them, and then the explosives detonated.

* * *

Bucky made the mental note to never, _ever_ , touch that crazy French's bag, because whatever he had in there could probably destroy a whole block. The explosion that followed the detonation was so big that those who were facing that side of the tank had to dodge the flames, half the tank actually leaving the ground.

But it did its job, Bucky realized, when he managed to look again. The tank's hull was still intact, but the four turrets on the right side were gone, probably tossed all the way back to Germany after that explosion.

Four down, four to go.

* * *

Steve hid behind his shield when the wall of fire came in his direction, but he couldn't exactly evade the blast of the explosion. His shield protected him, of course, but that didn't make him _not_ fly in the air and crash against a fallen building. He groaned when his back hit the wall, already planning to check later what in God's name Jacques was carrying in that bag of his.

Getting up, seeing that the explosives had indeed done their job, Steve ran back to the square where the tank was. He managed to approach maybe a few meters until the tank turned, pointing its left side to him and beginning to shoot. Those weapons were better than the weapons HYDRA's foot soldiers had, more powerful and focused, but his shield _was_ made of vibranium.

The energy shots were reflected back, hitting the tank's hull, until Steve managed to redirect them back at the very turrets; he almost smiled when the metal dissolved at being hit, destroying one of the four. It would be a matter of time until he could destroy the rest, if a troop of HYDRA soldiers hadn't appeared, forcing him to move.

"Cover Steve!" yelled Bucky, as the Howling Commandos moved to engage the HYDRA soldiers.

Still, it wasn't fast enough to give Steve the opportunity to destroy the rest of them and now the tank had turned completely: facing him.

He had maybe a second to try to escape when it accelerated, the whole thing basically exploding forward as the engines roared. Steve was preparing to jump over it, the only way he could think of not being crushed to death, when the tank suddenly stopped.

Steve didn't understand what happened for a moment, still seeing the tracks moving and the engine roaring; until he saw the golden glow of Diana's lasso passing through its tracks.

His jaw was agape when he began to move again, getting out from the tank's trajectory. But in the end there was no need.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Diana yelled, as the tank was lifted in the air and tossed, its side hitting a building so strongly that it broke in half.

* * *

Diana moved before she knew what she was doing when Sleipnir advanced towards Steve, tossing her lasso around it and holding the whole thing in place. Her muscles burned with the strain but she didn't let it move for even one centimeter, knowing that if she did Steve would be hurt. And she wouldn't allow that to happen.

Yelling, she pulled the lasso with all her strength, feeling the tank losing against her own power. She was still screaming when Sleipnir left the ground and crashed against a building, the pieces beginning to rain upon them. But she knew it wasn't over.

"Steve, now!" she said, pointing at the three remaining turrets.

Nodding, Steve tossed his shield, the vibranium making that weird sound when it bounced against a wall and turned, going against the aligned turrets; the shield passed through them as if it were a hot knife cutting though butter.

Diana grinned as she saw that, the shield bouncing once again against a large debris and going back to Steve; she had to learn that someday.

* * *

"Dugan, cover me!" Bucky yelled, not waiting to receive any confirmation as he left his cover and jumped towards a toppled building.

The big house was still relatively intact, but the tank had somehow pushed it forward, making the thing incline itself over the street. Bucky kicked the door down and entered, running through the inclined corridors, seeing the street where the HYDRA troop and the Howling Commandos were passing through the windows. He ran until he got to the middle of the house and, coincidentally, the middle of the street.

Right behind HYDRA's line.

Shooting the window, Bucky fired three times before the tossed his grenade, exploding their defenses. Using that opportunity, the Howling Commandos advanced, shooting with unbelievable precision, the HYDRA soldiers falling like flies.

Bucky laughed; that was when he saw the huge tank flying against a building.

* * *

"It's stuck!" yelled Steve, seeing the tank trying to get out from the middle of the toppled building without success.

He smiled at Diana, but before they had any chance to celebrate, Mjölnir began to move. The noise the huge cannon made when it hit the building was terrible, but it actually cut through it, the weapon destroying the upper part of the building as it turned.

And pointed right at them.

Steve knew they were doomed when it started to glow blue. If that thing fired, it wouldn't just kill him, Diana, Bucky and the Howling Commandos; it would wipe out Lublin off the map, including Sleipnir and Mjölnir themselves. Majdanek, with all those prisoners, would also be destroyed. Nothing would be left standing.

Captain America couldn't let that happen.

Raising his shield, Steve blocked the blue beam at the exact moment it fired, trying to deflect it far away. He had never, in all his life, felt such strain against his body. His legs were digging the ground and his arms were seconds away of snapping. Vibranium could absorb and deflect energy, but there was a limit as to its effectiveness and the speed it could do it. He felt himself shaking, the noise and the glow dominating all his senses.

That was when he felt a familiar hand holding him.

Diana's finger's entwisted with his own as she helped him hold his shield, giving him all the strength he needed. He felt the shield stabilizing, stopping to shake, as both of them stood, side by side, behind the vibranium, the energy beam being deflected to the sky.

As if they were one, they began to move the shield, slowly, directing the beam down a bit; Steve immediately knew what Diana was trying to do and coordinated his movements with hers. He couldn't see through that light or hear her talking, but he could feel exactly what she wanted.

So he turned the shield down with her, deflecting the energy beam directly against Mjölnir.

He was unconscious before he could even notice that there was an explosion.

* * *

 **Russia – March 28** **th** **, 1992**

Diana jumped forward when she heard the gunshot, seeing the bullet leaving the pistol, right in the direction of the only lead she had to find Baroness Paula von Gunther and then the Winter Soldier.

She moved faster than ever, managing to reach the bullet with her bracelet at the exact moment it would hit Madam B.'s head.

Both Natalia and Madam B. looked at her surprised. Surprised at a lot of things, she could imagine. Her appearing that fast to deflect a bullet that would kill Madam B. was certainly one, but there were others.

Natalia was surprised at what she did. Not only had she lost complete control over her own emotions, she had fired against Madam B., which was unthinkable to someone trained in the Red Room. Madam B. was surprised that one of her pupils had turned against her, something that probably had never happened before.

Sighing, Diana grabbed the pistol from Natalia's hand. She didn't seem in the mood to shoot again, but she couldn't risk it. Without saying anything, she also took her lasso back, releasing Natalia's arms and legs and turning to Madam B.

"Your turn to tell the truth," she said, as she put the lasso around her neck.

Madam B. recoiled against the ropes, trying to get back, but Diana stepped over her leg and applied pressure; the message was clear enough. If she tried to run, the leg would stay.

"What do you know about the Winter Soldier?" she asked, deciding to see if she knew something that could cut her chase short.

The soviet trainer of assassins grunted in pain as the lasso forced her to tell the truth.

"He is the best assassin in the world," she spat out. "Better than anyone I ever trained. Not one of mine."

"Where can I find him?"

"I don't know."

"What is his name?"

This time she chuckled.

"If they did their job right, he shouldn't remember," she answered.

Diana glanced at Natalia, seeing her stiffen.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"A tool is only useful when it works properly. Memories, feelings, attachments… They can make an assassin bite the hand of its master."

Again, Diana glanced at Natalia, who seemed pale.

"So you know nothing about him?"

"I know very little," Madam B. admitted. "My agents never crossed his path and I didn't look for him as well. Professional courtesy."

That wasn't what Diana hoped, but it was what she expected.

"What about Baroness Paula von Gunther?" Diana asked. "What can you tell me about her?"

The woman tried to fight the lasso again, but couldn't.

"She is dangerous," she finally said. "Intelligent, yes, and rich, but not because of that." She looked at Diana. "She is a fanatic."

"About what?" Diana asked.

"Myths, gods of old, magic… She believes in the power of the gods as if they were real," Madam B. answered and Diana felt herself fill with dread; Johan Schmidt was the same once upon a time. "She is obsessed with old trinkets, ancient objects of every culture out there. Enough to spend fortunes to find them."

"What kind of objects?"

Madam B. shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Where can I find her?"

This time, Madam B. truly didn't want to answer. She used every last bit of her willpower to resist, gritting her teeth not to yell when the heat became unbearable.

"SIBERIA!" she yelled, panting afterwards. "S-She has a secret base there, where she hides her trinkets. I could find patterns, trace the location of an old bunker and eventually track her there. I have the coordinates."

Diana crouched near her.

"Tell me," she demanded and Madam B. did just that. "What can I expect there?"

"Not many people, but enough defenses to kill most troops easily." She looked at Diana. "But maybe that won't be a problem for you, Godkiller."

Diana raised a single eyebrow, feeling Natalia's eyes on her as well.

"So you have heard of me?"

"I didn't think you were real," Madam B. admitted. "Ghost stories from the war. But it is true, isn't it? You are her. A true goddess."

She heard Natalia gasp behind her, but didn't stop staring at Madam B.

"You should know, Paula von Gunther is obsessed with one more thing," she said, smiling. "You."

That surprised Diana again, but she didn't show it.

"And why is that?"

"You _are_ a living goddess, aren't you?"

Diana shook her head.

"You are only half right."

Saying this, she turned around.

"You are letting me live?" Madam B. asked, truly shocked.

Diana handed the pistol to Natalia.

"Ask your questions and make your decision. Now is the time."

Hesitantly, with shaking hands, Natalia grabbed the pistol and looked at Madam B.

"All this that you taught us… What was the purpose? W-Why did we have to suffer all that?" she asked, almost whispering.

Madam B. looked down and chuckled.

"My dear, life is like a ballet performance. We all dance to someone's tune to perform to someone's pleasure. I prefer to be the one behind the curtains than the one breaking their feet to dance to someone else's amusement."

"TELL ME THE TRUTH!" Natalia yelled, surprising her old master for a second.

She smiled, almost sadly.

"We live, we kill, we die. There is no purpose but what we make. And I rather be the one making my own purpose than the one dying for somebody else's."

"So that was all we were? Tools?"

"We are all tools, my dear. You were mine like I was someone's." She looked at Diana. "The only ones who can say they aren't tools are the gods themselves."

Natalia glanced briefly at Diana and then turned to Madam B. again, approaching.

"Did you ever… Did you ever care about me?" she asked.

"Yes… You were always my greatest tool."

There were tears on Natalia's eyes then, as she touched Madam B. with the gun.

"I loved you, did you know?" she asked. "Even after everything you did to me, I loved you. I t-thought–"

"You thought I would be the mother you wanted so much?" Madam B. grinned. "Love is for children, Natalia."

Natalia looked down, the tears falling nonstop now.

"Yes, I suppose it is." And she pulled the trigger.

There was a minute of silence as Natalia only looked at Madam B.'s corpse; then she began to cry. It wasn't normal crying, like the ones Diana would usually see in children in the street, but a difficult, trapped sobbing, as if she had forgotten how to do it.

Getting closer, Diana got on her knees and hugged Natalia, surprised when her tiny arms grabbed her tight. She felt her tears wetting her clothes, the unusual crying making her body shake. Diana felt her heart hurting as she held that little kid in her arms, not even being capable of imagining all the things she went through.

"What is going to happen now?" asked Natalia, as her crying became more controllable. "Are you going to help them?"

Diana nodded, still holding her tightly.

"I know someone who can," she answered, thinking about Peggy. "You can–"

"No!" Natalia interrupted. "I don't need help, they do."

She released Diana and looked at her eyes.

"I want to go with you."

* * *

 **Poland, Lublin – January 31** **st** **, 1944**

The cries of happiness went all around the city, alongside the music and the dancing. For too long Lublin had become silenced, its own people trapped in it, but not anymore. The Nazis had retreated, fleeing the city when they saw Sleipnir and Mjölnir being defeated. Majdanek was torn apart, the people there freed. The streets were taken with the previously oppressed.

Diana, however, was too busy to enjoy the festivities, too worried. Steve was still unconscious, the blast of the explosion hitting them head on. She couldn't protect him and it was her idea to use the energy from Mjölnir against itself in the first place.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

The medics in the city were quick to treat him and they said he was fine, but if he was fine why didn't he wake up? Simple question, really, but the medics answered every time saying that he needed time to heal. What Diana wouldn't give for some of the medicine they had on Themyscira!

But it was useless to think about that. She didn't have the medicine and the medics didn't seem worried; their friends didn't seem worried! Maybe Diana was overreacting. It was a possibility, she supposed. Not very likely, but it was possible. Right now, then, she was alone with Steve inside one of the infirmaries, while the Howling Commandos enjoyed their hero welcoming.

Diana felt no wish to dance right now, so she was treating Steve's wounds. She took his shirt off, seeing the several cuts from the debris on his chest; those needed to be cleaned. Carefully, she used a piece of cloth to wipe off the blood, marveling at the sight of the small wounds very slowly closing themselves. A human probably wouldn't notice, but she did.

Smiling, Diana reached for more water, continuing her work. Gently, she leaned over Steve, trying to clean a wound on his stomach. She passed the cloth over it several times, until there was no more blood, and put the cloth down; and then, tentatively, she touched him again.

He felt warm under her fingers. Nice. Diana didn't even realize what she was doing anymore, as she ran her fingers on Steve's body, any intention of cleaning his wounds forgotten as she stared at him, mesmerized.

Diana never felt such despair as when Steve passed out by her side. She thought that was it, like what happened with Antiope. She touched him then to know if he was dead; she didn't know why she was touching him now, but she didn't want to stop.

Leaning over him, Diana looked at his face, her hand resting on his cheeks. She could feel his breath, calm and quiet, as he slept. Her fingers traced the form of his jaw, touching his chin and hair, his nose and lips.

And before she knew what she was doing she kissed him; his eyes opened at that exact moment.

* * *

 **New chapter! Review, favorite, follow, thanks for everything!**


	10. Chapter 10 - Enemies Old, Enemies New

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 10 – Enemies Old, Enemies New**

 **Poland, Lublin – January 31th, 1944**

Steve didn't realize what was happening at first. All he could feel was an incredibly softness on his lips, the caress of a breath, the tickle of a hair strand on his face; then he opened his eyes.

Diana was kissing him. And before he even knew what he was doing, he was kissing her back.

She stopped for a second, noticing he had woken up, looking deeply into his eyes; Steve held her face delicately, his fingers feeling the skin of her cheeks, touching her lips. He leaned and kissed her, closing his eyes, delighting in the sensation, feeling his heart beating faster than he ever remembered…

The sound of a radio echoed loudly in the quiet room.

" _It's Peggy, do you copy?_ "

As if their lips suddenly had caught on fire, both him and Diana jumped back, away from each other. They turned to look at the radio on the table, their eyes wide, as if just now they noticed what they had just done. Diana turned to Steve and when their eyes met she quickly looked down, walking a few steps away from the bed he was on, her hands moving franticly.

Steve was filled with guilt, even if he wasn't the one who started the kiss. He had, after all, kissed her back. He got up, not exactly knowing what he was going to do, when the voice on the radio spoke again: " _Is anybody there?"_

"I'm here, I'm here!" Steve said, running to the radio and responding.

" _Thank God! Bucky told me what happened, are you alright?"_

"I'm… I'm fine, I think."

" _And what about Lublin? There were still some Nazi soldiers around, according to what Bucky said._ "

Steve didn't know, but since he was here, still alive, and not in a cell it was safe to say they had won and Lublin hadn't been destroyed by the HYDRA weapon. Before he could speak, however, Diana did.

"The Nazis retreated, the ones who couldn't are either dead or captured. Majdanek is free now."

" _I still do not know how you people could accomplish that, but I'm certainly not complaining. The Red Army is moving to secure the city, they should be safe from now on. Howard is flying there tomorrow with a plane big enough to transport the parts of the weapon and some key witnesses back to London."_

"What about the rest of the German occupation?" Steve asked. "Are they moving to try and reclaim Lublin?"

" _As far as my contacts can tell, they don't appear to be moving towards Lublin, no. And now with the soviets approaching in numbers, it won't matter anyway."_

 _"_ That is certainly a relief," Steve said, sighing.

" _You are unharmed then, Steve? And what about you, Diana?"_

Both of them deliberately avoided eye contact.

"We are both alright, Peggy," Steve finally answered. "We can tell you all about it when we get to London, tomorrow."

" _I'll be looking forward to it. Stay safe."_

And the radio turned off. There was almost a minute of silence, not Steve or Diana even daring to move or look at each other. But it didn't last long.

"I can't believe I did this to Peggy," Diana whispered and Steve turned to see her taking her hands to her face. "I-I'm sorry, Steve, I didn't, I wasn't thinking, I don't know wh–"

"Diana, please, it wasn't your fault."

"I kissed you!" she exclaimed.

Steve looked down for a moment, sighing.

"And I kissed you back too. We… We both made a mistake."

Diana looked at him, pain etched in her expression, but she didn't disagree.

"Yes, a mistake. That was all it was."

Then she turned to leave. Steve, once again, didn't know what to do and he wanted to punch himself because of it. He liked Peggy. She was the first woman who ever truly looked at him, passing through his exterior, back then when he was a small, weak man and now that he was Captain America. She saw him for what he was and he saw in her an incredible woman with whom he quickly began to fall in love.

And then there was Diana. The woman who saved his life, who fought by his side against HYDRA, who helped him not to sell his own soul when he decided to destroy the weapon instead of trying to save Lublin and Majdanek. They had become friends over the many days they spent together, confortable with one another, to the point Steve was having trouble sleeping when she wasn't by his side. She was one of the purest souls he had ever seen, not one grain of evil in her, and Steve could honestly say he admired her.

Now he was realizing he might be feeling something _more_ than just that.

Steve didn't know what to do, but he knew that he couldn't just let Diana leave, not like that. His fault or not, he had hurt her and that wasn't something he could let pass. So he ran after her, exiting through the door one second later, her name already leaving his mouth.

Only to be completely silenced by the enormous crowd waiting in the street just outside the house.

The moment the people waiting there realized Diana and Steve got out from the house they started to cheer, singing, clapping and laughing. Men, women and children, their faces illuminated by huge bonfires built all around. They approached, touching them as if they were religious symbols, as if they simply wanted to make sure they were real. And at every moment they were chanting something.

"What are they saying?" Steve asked, his eyes wide, as he and Diana looked around surprised.

She turned to him.

"They are singing 'Captain America'," Diana translated, looking at the happy crowd again and hesitating for a second. "And 'Wonder Woman'."

* * *

 **Russia – March 30** **th** **, 1992**

Diana walked through the abandoned military base, surrounded by trees and mountains, her feet taping the concrete of the landing zone as she approached the maneuvering airplane. The sound of the turbines was too loud and the wind made her hair flutter as she waited for the plane to turn around and stop, Natalia waiting quietly by her side.

She counted herself lucky to have connections in high places, because otherwise she would have a lot more trouble to deal with the situation she was in right now. In the van parked behind her were all the little brainwashed girls she rescued from the Red Room, all properly drugged and restrained; Diana didn't even want to think about how she would do to leave the country with them without help.

But she did know people who had the means to do that. And right now she couldn't stop herself from smiling as she saw her sister coming out from the airplane, her hair swaying in the wind.

"It's very nice to see you again, Peggy!" Diana greeted her, hugging her best friend when she got closer. "I didn't know you would come too."

"Well, I did have ulterior motives," Peggy said, smiling, as she held Diana. "I missed you, Princess."

They held each other for a few more seconds and then stepped back. Diana looked around, seeing some agents positioning themselves around the airplane, their trained eyes checking the place for any potential threats. Peggy's eyes, however, were on Natalia.

"So, who is this?" she asked, knowing very well who Natalia was.

"Natalia Alianovna Romanoff," the red haired girl answered, also looking at Peggy. "And you are Margaret Elizabeth Carter, founder of SHIELD."

Peggy raised a single eyebrow.

"I see the Red Room still remembers me," Peggy remarked.

"Dorothy Underwood's files about you were extensive," Natalia answered, in the same unconcerned tone.

Diana saw a smile appearing on Peggy's lips for a fraction of a second, but it probably disappeared too fast for anybody else to have seen it.

"Dottie was pretty unforgettable too," Peggy summarized the rivalry she had with the old Red Room operative. If the stories Diana heard weren't exaggerated, "unforgettable" was a very abridged version of all the things she had done. "So, Diana, you said you had rescued some people?"

Diana nodded, looking at the van.

"The children from the Red Room," she said. "They are in there, unconscious and tied up." She looked at Peggy again. "I need you to take them from here and take care of them."

Peggy looked in Diana's eyes for a long time and then she sighed.

"I'll do what I can, but I can't promise anything," Peggy answered. "If they are too far gone… Then keeping them under surveillance is really all we can do."

"They are not gone!" Natalia countered, her voice not detached anymore.

Peggy's eyes turned to Natalia and then back to Diana.

"I believe her," Diana announced, her voice full of confidence.

There were a few seconds of silence.

"Then I'll do everything in my power to help them, you have my word," Peggy promised, looking at both of them.

"Thank you, Peggy," Diana said, feeling relieved. She looked at Natalia. "Natalia, show the agents where the girls are, please."

Natalia hesitated for a second, but nodded and guided the men in suits to the van. Diana turned back to look at Peggy.

"What are you going to do with them?" she asked, her voice very low.

"I will train them to become agents," Peggy answered. "You know as well as I do that they will never have a normal life. I can't just send them to foster families and hope everything will be fine. These girls are victims, but they are also incredibly dangerous and I won't leave them unsupervised. But I can at least guarantee that they won't be used anymore. No more assassinations, no more spying, not unless they are willing to work for us when they are of age."

Diana looked down for a moment.

"I trust you, Peggy. If anyone can help them, it's you."

"Even after everything I said?" Peggy asked. "About the Red Room."

"You know better than most what these kids went through," Diana said. "And regardless of what you may think about them, I know you won't just execute them. You wouldn't be my sister if you were that kind of person."

There was a brief smile on Peggy's face. Both of them watched in silence as the agents removed the girls from the van, taking them carefully to the airplane.

"What are you going to do now, Diana?" Peggy asked, looking at her. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"More or less," Diana said. "I have the location of Baroness Paula von Gunther's base. She is the only clue I have of the Winter Soldier. If I find her there, maybe I'll find him."

Peggy didn't answer for a time, thinking.

"The von Gunther family is a very old enemy of the SSR and SHIELD, as I'm sure you already know," Peggy finally said. "They poured an obscene amount of money in Hitler's pockets and then in Schmidt's. To know that this woman is planning something with the Winter Soldier unsettles me."

"According to Madam B. she is obsessed with the occult, just like the Red Skull was," Diana added. "So I share your worries."

Peggy's eyes turned serious.

"It's more than just that," she said, her voice now barely a whisper. "The Winter Soldier killed Howard because he managed to replicate the Super-Soldier Serum. That means that whoever ordered him to do that has the Serum." She approached even closer, speaking almost in Diana's ear. "We all know what the SSR managed to accomplish with Captain America. Diana, this could mean the rebirth of HYDRA."

Diana's eyes widened.

"HYDRA is finished," she said, her voice equally low.

"But is it?" Peggy questioned. "I wish I shared your certainty, but I don't know anymore. I said before that I was sure that Howard had replicated the Serum for a reason. Maybe that was the reason. Maybe he knew, somehow, that our old enemies are not as defeated as we thought. Maybe that is why he is dead."

It couldn't be… If HYDRA was still around they would know. SHIELD would know.

"Do you really think she is trying to bring HYDRA back?"

"I don't know anything more than you do, Diana," Peggy answered. "But I do know that if Paula von Gunther is the one behind this, this mission just became more important than ever. She _can't_ , in any circumstance, be allowed to use the Serum. I can't even imagine the damage HYDRA could cause with super-soldiers in their ranks."

But Diana could imagine. She knew what Steve was capable of, she saw most of it. That power in the hands of HYDRA… If they could make more soldiers like Steve, loyal to them, trained by them, with the von Gunther fortune funding HYDRA's growth they could take over countries. Start a new war. One that could be won without anyone even noticing.

Paula von Gunther needed to be stopped.

"I won't allow everything Steve fought for be destroyed," Diana promised.

"I know you won't," Peggy said, touching her shoulder.

They shared a moment of silence, simply content in staying close to each other, watching the agents finishing to take the girls to the airplane; all the girls, except for one.

"What about the red haired one?" Peggy asked, noticing this.

Diana sighed.

"She… wants to come with me."

This time Peggy's reaction was more obvious than before, her eyes widening.

"And you'll take her with you?"

Diana sighed again.

"I know, it's stupid, but–"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Peggy interrupted.

Wait, what?

"Wonderful idea?" Diana repeated. "Taking a child with me to hunt a madwoman?"

Peggy smiled.

"Well, not that part, no. Even though she isn't a normal child." Peggy looked in Diana's eyes, touching her face. "But the part where you are opening yourself again, trusting someone? That part is wonderful."

Diana didn't know what to answer to that.

"You closed yourself to the world to avoid feeling the same pain you felt when Steve was lost," Peggy continued, still holding Diana's face. "You pushed Howard away. You pushed _me_ away. You hid yourself for half a century because of it. So yes, Diana, to know that you are finally allowing yourself to care again fills me with joy."

The words fled Diana's mind as she thought about what Peggy had said. Not on purpose, she looked at Natalia, seeing the little red haired girl approaching. And definitely without meaning to, she felt herself filling with warmth. She cared about her, more than she imagined at first, and Peggy made her realize that.

She just hoped baring her heart wouldn't result in her finally losing it after all this time.

"Anyway, I got you a present," Peggy added, making Diana look at her.

She took something from her pocket, a small controller, and pointed it to an empty space by the airplane, pressing a button. As if materializing out of thin air, a Quinjet began to appear, its hull glowing like a mirror for a few seconds before turning to black, revealing inch by inch the full aircraft.

"You bought me an invisible plane?" Diana asked, shocked, her eyes glued to the Quinjet; she didn't even notice the aircraft arriving, probably because the sound of its engine was muted by the sound of the bigger airplane.

"Well, I hope it can make up for five thousand or so missed presents," Peggy answered, smiling. "You still remember the lessons Howard gave you, right? Good. You should be able to approach von Gunther's base unnoticed then."

Saying this, Peggy hugged her again.

"And what do you want for your birthday?" Diana joked, hugging her tight.

Peggy released her and looked in her eyes.

"Bring me the last head of HYDRA."

* * *

 **Poland, Lublin – January 31th, 1944**

"WONDER WOMAN, WONDER WOMAN, WONDER WOMAN!" the people of Lublin chanted nonstop, as Diana turned to look at them, eyes wide. "CAPTAIN AMERICA, CAPTAIN AMERICA, CAPTAIN AMERICA!"

Everyone, men, women and children, were singing, their faces lit with happiness. She saw some of the people she recognized from Majdanek, thin and sickly looking, but with glowing eyes full of glee; people from the town, finally free from the Nazi occupation, clapping and dancing; and of course, the Howling Commandos, maybe louder than anyone, singing with them as well.

Still too shocked to talk, Diana barely reacted when Bucky pulled both of them, putting her fur cape on her shoulders, giving her sword and shield back to her and making Steve hold his vibranium shield. As if they were one, the Howling Commandos positioned themselves around them, leaving Diana in the middle of Steve and Bucky.

"Smile for the picture!" Bucky laughed, pointing to a man operating a strange contraption.

 _FLASH!_ Diana didn't exactly know what had just happened, but she didn't have the time to ask, because as soon as the man gave them permission, they all grabbed her and Steve and pushed them against each other, Bucky picking her sword and shield back from her as Dugan did the same with Steve's shield.

As if she didn't have any self-control whatsoever, Diana felt her own arms getting around Steve, just as his arms held her. They both looked at each other again, their faces red-tinted, the words they had a few minutes ago fresh in their minds. But even so, neither of them could stop their own bodies as they began to dance together. Slowly, clumsy and uncertain, their steps began to sway them to one side to the other.

"I don't know how to dance," Steve apologized, his feet moving with extremely carefulness.

"I don't know how to dance this kind of song either," Diana answered, getting closer from him despite what she said. "I guess we will have to practice, right?"

Not being able to help themselves, they began to smile. And as they saw each other smiling they began to laugh. They would have to have a talk, soon, but tonight? Tonight they would celebrate.

* * *

 **Russia – March 30** **th** **, 1992**

Natalia watched through the windows of the Quinjet, seeing the white clouds passing under them, as the aircraft moved with incredible speed across the sky. After her fellow operatives – her _friends_ , she corrected herself – had been moved to the SHIELD's airplane, under the protection of Margaret Carter herself, she and Diana had entered the new aircraft and taken off.

Neither of them said anything for a long time, content in simply staying in a confortable silence, until Natalia couldn't help herself anymore.

"Are you really a goddess?" she blurted out, suddenly, looking at Diana.

That was what Madam B. had said in the Red Room and Diana hadn't denied. Natalia hadn't believed in any sort of god for a long time; it was, after all, difficult to keep believing in someone when every pray for help remains unanswered. But looking at Diana she couldn't help but wonder if that was true.

The things she could do… Natalia knew that there were exceptional people out in the world, but Diana was something else. And she looked like a goddess, or at least what Natalia thought a goddess would look like. Diana was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life, but it wasn't just that; it was how she felt by her side. Warm, safe… loved. Something she hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

Diana sighed, looking at her.

"That is a matter of perspective," she finally answered.

Natalia frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I am the daughter of Zeus, King of Olympus," Diana said and Natalia widened her eyes. "My mother is the Queen of the amazons, Hippolyta."

"So you are a demigoddess?" Natalia questioned, trying to understand what Diana was trying to say.

Diana smiled.

"Like I said, that is a matter of perspective. The Olympians were a very ancient, very powerful race; when compared to humans. To you, they might seem gods. Immortals, strong, wise… But compared to other races, maybe not so much."

"So you aren't a goddess?" Natalia risked.

"It depends on your definition of the word. If you mean an omnipotent, omnipresent being, that created the universe and everything in it, then no, the Olympians weren't gods and therefore I am not a goddess. But if by god you mean an unbelievably powerful being, ancient and capable of doing things that you can barely understand, then yes, they were gods and so am I."

Natalia thought about what Diana had answered for a long minute, trying to understand exactly what she was trying to say.

"You sound like the Greek gods were just called gods because they were powerful," she said.

Diana smiled again.

"Gods are worshiped or feared for a reason and that reason is power. But like I said, power is a relative matter. Compared to you, I am very old and very powerful. But there are beings out there in the universe as powerful as I am. Some even more powerful. They certainly wouldn't see me as anything out of the ordinary."

"But what about God, with a capital 'G'? The being that created everything. Is he real?" Natalia asked.

She shrugged.

"I've never met him, her or them, so I don't know," Diana explained, activating the auto-pilot and turning to Natalia. "I was taught as a child that Zeus was the one who created humanity. That all this was his work. I never thought to question this until I left Themyscira, but once I did I realized that what I considered certainty wasn't true. Or at least, not literally."

"So your… father, didn't create us?"

"If you mean that he snapped his fingers and mankind appeared, then no. But he did give mankind a push during their numerous trials. A little tweak here and there, to make them smarter or more resistant to certain diseases, a little help against the elements… And, of course, protection against beings set out to hurt mankind."

That did sound terribly ominous.

"But, like I said, I don't know if someone actually created us and, if someone did, I don't know if all this was intentional," Diana continued. "In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Natalia was too surprised with the revelations to actually ponder this question. Gods were real. Zeus was real. She didn't know if there was someone that outranked him, but the fact that a single so called god even existed was amazing. And, frankly, a little bit intimidating.

What was she compared to an entity that powerful?

"Is every god from the mythology real?" Natalia asked, suddenly, trying to get a real answer on how humanity ranked in the natural order.

"Most of them are or were real," Diana said. "Or at least they are based on a real being."

Not even noticing she was on the edge of her chair, Natalia got even closer from Diana, her surprise growing at each word she spoke.

"Have you ever met any of them?"

"I met Ares, the God of War, once." She stopped for a second, then added: "My half-brother."

"How was he?" Natalia asked.

"Not very nice. Turns out he was responsible for most wars in the world, including the two world wars. I had to defeat him."

"You killed Ares?!" Natalia exclaimed, barely containing her excitement.

Diana chuckled.

"That is a long story. Have you ever heard of Captain America?"

* * *

The snow filled landscape took the entire horizon as the Quinjet flew over Siberia, the cloaking device making sure they passed unnoticed through Russian airspace. Diana was a little bit uncertain when she got inside the aircraft, staring for a long minute at the controls, but it turned out that flying was like riding a bike; at least it was when the person who teaches is Howard Stark, Diana considered.

The Quinjet was a lot more sophisticated than what she remembered, but the basics were still the same, just like when Howard took her out for a few lessons. And the sky, Diana knew, was her territory, so she had nothing to worry about, being the daughter of the sky god and all that. She always felt safe between the clouds.

Natalia had finally quiet down after she told her a little bit about her story, remembering some of the good times she had with Steve. Diana still wasn't sure if bringing her here was a good idea, she could get hurt after all, but right now she wasn't regretting it. She couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun remembering the past, telling it to someone else, relieving the memories.

Usually, remembering brought pain; this time it brought her happiness.

The time to reminisce would come later, though. Right now, Diana needed to focus. According to the controls, Paula von Gunther's base was not far; the only reason they were flying without getting shot was probably because of the cloaking device. She would have to thank Peggy later.

Diana had no idea what she would find down there and that worried her. Could the Baroness really be trying to restore HYDRA? Was she really the one who controlled the Winter Soldier? In that case, was she in possession of the Super-Soldier Serum? Had she used it or tried to replicate it?

She didn't have any of those answers and that was making her tense. Diana knew she was powerful, powerful enough to defeat anything they threw at her she was sure, but HYDRA wasn't something to be underestimated. Peggy was right to be concerned. If Paula von Gunther was really trying to bring HYDRA back using the Super-Soldier Serum, things could become catastrophic very soon.

World War III kind of catastrophic.

Captain America was one of the reasons WWII hadn't been lost; Diana didn't even want to think in the possibility of HYDRA making soldiers like Steve to fight against them. Looking at Natalia, she imagined the horror it would be to fight brainwashed soldiers possessing Steve's abilities.

And, of course, there was the Baroness's obsession with magic, gods… _herself_. Schmidt was a truly dangerous man, but even he wouldn't become that much of a threat without the Tesseract. Could von Gunther have found something of similar power? Unlikely, because Infinity Stones weren't easy to find. But there wasn't a lack of powerful artifacts lying around the world, her own job proved that.

What started as a hunt for Howard's assassin had become a mission of the utmost importance. It wasn't just about avenging her old friend now, but about stopping the beginning of a new world war against an enemy she knew all too well. If Paula von Gunther truly wanted to bring HYDRA back, Diana would do anything to stop her.

The controls of the Quinjet began to beep when they approached the coordinates, indicating they were there. With a delicate gesture, Diana brought the aircraft down, landing it on top of a rock, her eyes never leaving the bunker a few kilometers from them.

"We are here," she announced, getting up.

Natalia got up just as quickly, following Diana to the back of the Quinjet. Without turning to her, Diana removed her long coat, allowing her amazon armor to shine in the weak light, and got her sword and shield, putting them on her back; Antiope's tiara was on her head, as always, and the Lasso of Hestia was on her hip.

Following the same ritual, Natalia prepared herself too, grabbing several pistols and ammunitions, strapping all of them to the skintight black vest she was wearing. A big sniper rifle, almost as tall as her, was on her back as well.

Diana knew Natalia was a very dangerous assassin, despite her age, but she would probably be outclassed by the dangers they would find in that base. Once again she thought if it wasn't for the best to leave her in the Quinjet, but she quickly decided against it; Natalia was willing to take the risk and she was more than capable to defend her.

Which, of course, didn't make taking precautions a bad thing.

"Here, take this," Diana said, giving the girl her own shield.

Turning to her, Natalia hesitated when she saw what Diana was offering.

"If things go bad, and they will, use it to protect yourself," Diana explained, forcing the girl to take the shield. "It will protect you against anything."

With the shield in hands, Natalia touched it, feeling its texture for a second. She looked at Diana with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible.

"You are welcome," Diana answered, smiling at the girl.

It was time. With her fist, she pushed the button and opened the door, the freezing wind entering the Quinjet almost immediately. The cold didn't deter her for a moment, but Natalia shivered for a second, before controlling her own reaction. Without looking back, both of them jumped to the snow, beginning the walk to the bunker.

Siberia's winds were howling and their feet dug through the snow as they advanced, Diana walking in front of Natalia to shield her from the cold; and from anything else. Her eyes moved quickly across the landscape, unbothered by the strong winds, looking for signs of defense, trying to find the threat before it found them.

It didn't take long for her to find the entrance. And its guardian.

"What is that?!" Natalia asked, almost yelling to be able to talk with the noise of the wind.

"That is a relic from World War II," Diana answered, beginning to grin.

A Sleipnir with a Mjölnir mounted on top of it. The nostalgia almost made Diana sigh, the memories of her and Steve fighting it in the streets of Lublin, the Howling Commandos with them. And, of course, the presence of an old HYDRA weapon here indicated that Paula von Gunther really did have connections with them.

Kneeling on the ground, her hand bringing Natalia down with her, Diana studied the soon-to-be battlefield. It was a snowy plain, no cover anywhere, and the door to the bunker was directly behind the immense tank, hidden on a rock formation. Well, Diana thought, grinning savagely, she didn't have a choice then.

"Stay here," she ordered Natalia, getting up and starting to run in Sleipnir's direction.

Natalia yelled something at her, but she didn't even hear it, too busy preparing herself to fight. Her feet moved through the snow with incredibly grace, as if she was gliding, not once getting stuck in it. A big cloud of snow rose behind her, as her speed increased. It didn't take long for the tank to notice her and the familiar blue glow of the Mjölnir shone.

Diana had a full blown smile on her face when Mjölnir fired in her direction, the thunderstorm like sound making the entire place shake. She lifted her arms, crossing them in front of her face, using the bracelets to defend herself just like she did on Majdanek during the war.

But she was not the same woman she was then.

The blue energy hit her directly with enough strength to wipe out an entire city, but Diana didn't even move. Instead, the blue energy simply stopped, the Bracelets of Submission swallowing it, absorbing the barrage of pure power into them, the familiar noise covering even the sound of the cannon. The snow around her began to melt, turning into mist, and in a matter of seconds the whole place was lost into fog.

And then the weapon finally stopped.

There was a second of silence, when Diana was the only one who could see anything through that mist. She grinned again, seeing the blue energy dancing on her bracelets, and looked back at the huge tank. And then she clashed the bracelets together.

What followed was a huge explosion of blue and red, her own godly power guiding the Tesseract energy towards Sleipnir and Mjölnir, just as she did against Ares once. The blue energy became a beam of light, so bright that the sky glowed blue, until it hit the tank.

The blue energy didn't stop when it collided against it, passing through, leaving in its place just vaporized steel. The big bunker's doors behind it also disappeared, the whole thing melting instantaneously, as if ice struck by an active volcano. Diana felt her arms shaking as the energy flowed through her, but in any moment she lost control, using her powers to keep it focused, restraining the power so it wouldn't destroy everything around them.

When it finally ended, there wasn't anything in their way anymore, except traces of molten metal, smoke and mist leading to a now open entrance. Grinning, Diana picked her sword and looked back.

"Come on!" she called a paralyzed Natalia, beginning to run towards the bunker, her feet barely marking the snow under her.

She crossed the melted doors, running through the dark corridor, following the trail of destruction the energy beam had left behind. The walls were cracked and the floor mostly liquefied, but that didn't stop Diana from running across it, stopping only to make sure Natalia would have a path to step on.

The corridor ended on an elevator, now completely gone from being hit by the Mjölnir's energy attack, but that wouldn't be a problem for her. Waiting a few seconds, she soon heard Natalia's faint steps behind her and before the girl could even realize what was happening, Diana caught Natalia and tossed her over her shoulders, jumping down; to Natalia's credit, she didn't scream, even though Diana felt her muscles straining under her hands.

It was a long way down to the sublevels and they were falling fast. Usually, Diana wouldn't have bothered to slow down, but Natalia would get hurt, so she sank her hand on the stone walls, using the friction as a brake. The stone cracked under her fingers, leaving a trail of dust behind, but Diana barely felt it. And then, after a few long seconds, she let it go.

Diana landed with force, her feet breaking the ground under her. Almost immediately, she put Natalia down and dashed forward, going through a factory like place, the rooms on both sides filled with piles of objects. She went up a small set of stairs, arriving in an ample space filled with steel bars, like a jail.

And then there was a gunshot.

She was already moving when the air around the bullet shifted, her arm crossing the distance between her and the shot, the bracelet hitting it and deflecting it back towards the shooter. There was a yell and then a series of shooting again. Diana was spinning in place, her bracelets deflecting the rain of bullets as if they weren't any threat, while her eyes darted around to find the ones shooting at her.

There were soldiers moving around her, hidden behind the stone pillars, waiting for an ambush. All evidence would point out that Diana had fallen in their trap, but the evidence wasn't counting on her godly gifts. Jumping, Diana allowed the bullets to pass under her, as she rose all the way to the ceiling; then, when she turned in air and her legs touched the ceiling, she pushed back, propelling herself like a missile in their direction.

The soldiers didn't have the chance to defend themselves, Diana simply crashing against one and already beginning to spin with her sword to hit the others. There were gunshots and yelling as blood and body parts flew everywhere and then additional firing, when Natalia arrived in the corridor and began to help her.

In less than 10 seconds the place was silent again.

Swinging her sword in air to clean it from the blood, Diana sheathed it again, giving one look at Natalia, who was loading her pistol with practiced calm. She waited until Natalia was by her side and began to move, going towards a big, round entrance, following the sounds of hearts beating.

They approached slowly, Diana first, crossing the round entrance carefully and arriving at a huge place. The room, differently from the others, was tall, the ceiling almost too far up to see. The illumination was bright, yellow, and several stone pillars reached all the way to the top. It had a circular shape.

What marked that room as special, however, wasn't its size, it was what was in it. Differently from the other rooms, that looked like common bunkers and storages, this one was built like a temple. There were statues all around, fancy decorations on the stone, braziers burning. Old, rare artifacts were in exposition, swords and armors, piles of books, spears and shields. There was even a fountain. All that shared space with weird technological machines that Diana didn't know, computers and weapons.

Diana, however, saw everything in barely a second; because inside the temple/lab there were also five people.

Four of them, lined just in front of her, were holding rifles pointed at her. They were soldiers, professionals by the looks of it, wearing black skintight clothes that left their prominent muscles in display. Three men and a woman, all looking at her without blinking.

And in the middle of them, sitting on a throne like chair, was Baroness Paula von Gunther.

Paula von Gunther was an austerely beautiful woman, with icy blue eyes, very dark hair and pale skin. She had an arrogant air, like someone used to have their orders followed, and an aura of authority few people possessed. Her appearance, however, didn't surprise Diana; what surprised Diana was what she was wearing.

Amazon armor.

She would recognize it anywhere. The shape, the details, the material… Paula von Gunther was clad in an armor similar to the one Diana was using, complete with golden gauntlets and a sword.

Diana had no idea where she had found that armor, but she had no right to wear it.

Stepping forward, without hesitation, Diana started walking towards her; all the rifles were pointed at her and she was already preparing to defend herself, noticing Natalia hiding behind her shield at the entrance. The bullets, however, were never fired.

"Enough!" Paula von Gunther said, her voice echoing in the room.

Obeying her immediately, the four soldiers lowered their rifles. Diana raised an eyebrow, looking at the Baroness. Holding her stare, Paula von Gunther got up from the throne, walking slowly in her direction. Without saying a word, she grabbed the sword from her back as she approached, being imitated by Diana, their movements almost the same, as if they were reflections in a mirror.

Still in silence, her icy blue eyes staring deeply at Diana, Paula von Gunther walked until she was right in front of her, maybe a meter away. Both of them gazed at each other, their breaths synchronized, their stances mirroring one another.

And then, without a word, Paula von Gunther kneeled, looking down respectfully.

"I have been waiting for a long time, Diana, Goddess of War."

* * *

 **Hey guys, new chapter! Sorry for the delay, but life is incredibly busy right now. Anyway, review, favorite, follow! Thanks for everything!**


	11. Chapter 11 - Fall From Grace

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 11 – Fall From Grace**

 **Russia – March 30** **th** **, 1992**

"I have been waiting for a long time, Diana, Goddess of War."

Diana remained impassive, but the surprise she felt when she heard that was enough to make her stand still, despite her intentions when she got in the room. Having her name spoken together with that title was not something she would ever expect.

But her surprise lasted only so much.

Extending her hand so fast that no one had the time to even react, Diana grabbed Paula's neck. Her fingers were like steel around her throat and there wasn't a person in this world strong enough to fight against them.

Paula von Gunther, however, didn't even try.

Her heart didn't accelerate, her face showed absolutely no reaction. There wasn't any fear in her eyes, as if she never expected that Diana would actually follow through with her threat. And against all she wanted, Diana held her hand.

"I am not the Goddess of War," Diana said, her voice low voice echoing in the tall room.

Paula's blue eyes stared at her.

"Did you not kill Ares? Shouldn't you inherit what belonged to him?" she asked.

"I am not him," Diana countered.

"No, you are better. Stronger. Worthy of being worshiped."

Diana pressed her hand, feeling the air inside her throat stopping, the blood pulsing hard.

"Don't _ever_ worship me!" Diana snarled. "It happened before. You will not like the consequences."

Either her rage or the fact she was suffocating Paula finally brought a reaction to her face. Her eyes got wider and her face got red, but again, in any moment, she fought against Diana. A second later, she was released.

While Paula coughed, trying to get the air back in her lungs, Diana looked down at her.

"I am here because you know the whereabouts of the Winter Soldier," Diana started. "Somehow, he answers to you. He has been killing people for you. And he killed someone very dear to me. I want to know why."

She waited until Paula could talk again, which didn't take long; still on her knees, Paula looked at Diana, her eyes respectful.

"The Winter Soldier rid the world of a plague. We are better off without Howard Stark."

Diana suddenly saw red. Less than a second after Paula said this, Diana's hand closed around her neck again, but this time she lifted her in the air. She could see the soldiers on the back of the room pointing their rifles at her and even sense Natalia doing the same from behind her, but she didn't even care, too enraged to look anywhere else than to Paula von Gunther.

"You _dare_ talk about Howard?! Your family filled the pockets of Hitler and Johan Schmidt! Your family financed a world war that killed millions! Your family almost destroyed the world! And you dare speak about Howard?!"

Paula was beginning to choke so Diana tossed her back to the ground, none too gently, her back hitting the ground with strength. Without stopping, Diana kneeled over her, her face almost touching Paula's, while her hand held her neck once again.

"If we are going to lay the blame of my family's mistakes at my feet," Paula started, her voice low because of her lack of breath, "wouldn't it be right to lay your family's mistakes at yours?"

That made Diana stop, even if for a second. Who knows how many wars Ares was responsible since the Olympians began to interfere with mankind? What about the other gods? How many deaths could they be blamed for? All that crossed her mind in a split second, before she looked at Paula again.

"Don't try to flee from responsibility," she said, while Paula remained motionless. "I never took part on my family's mistakes. I stopped Ares. You? You are here, doing the exact same thing your family did, feeding the Hydra. You are as much to blame as they are."

"I am _not_ my family!" Paula answered, for the first time showing some emotion: anger. "My family did what they did for power. That was all it was. And if I could I would have fought them with all I had, even if it meant going against the Red Skull himself!"

This time Diana really did hesitate.

* * *

 **Poland, Lublin – February 1** **st** **, 1944**

Diana and Steve walked the corridors of Majdanek in silence, neither of them in the mood to say anything. Last night's party had been great. They danced, they sang, they ate together with everyone. It was a victory feast that would forever remain in Diana's mind, no matter what happened.

What they were seeing in Majdanek would also remain in her mind forever, but for a very different reason.

She couldn't believe in the horrors they were seeing. It was simply too much. Majdanek wasn't a prison, it was a place designed to kill. That was the easy definition. People were taken there not to be jailed, but to die. Men, women, children… Diana couldn't imagine how many had been there before.

How could people be so cruel? Diana refused to believe they were, that Man's World had truly fallen so low, because if she did she couldn't keep going. That had to be Ares, there was no other explanation. Mankind simply couldn't be that evil.

"Diana," Steve whispered, holding her hand.

Diana didn't even notice she had stopped, her eyes fixed on the crematorium, still filled with evidence of what happened there. She also didn't even realize her eyes were filled with tears.

"Come on, let's keep going," Steve said, gently pulling her.

Looking at Steve, still too shocked to say anything, Diana could see his somber expression. She knew, just by glancing at him, that if there was someone who understood the crippling pain she was feeling right now, that someone was Steve.

"H-How could they…" she started, her voice dying out.

Steve didn't answer for a few seconds, while they left the place, going to the administration building.

"I don't know," he finally answered. "And I think I don't want to understand either. I just want to stop them."

No one knew what was going on Majdanek, not really, not until now, but if it happened here, in Lublin, it was probably happening on other places too. That was something Diana didn't want to even think about, but she had to. Someone had to do something and she would be that person.

Neither of them spoke again, walking in silence until they reached the administration building. As Diana had learned in London on the day she arrived, no one would believe their word without proof. If the crimes committed in Majdanek were to be exposed, they needed evidence, documents to show the Allied Forces exactly what the Nazis and HYDRA were doing.

And to make it clear that they would stop it.

They entered the administration building and went up, following the sounds of the people already there. The Howling Commandos and the soviet spy, Bierut, were searching for those proofs, taking everything they could to present in London, before Howard arrived to take them back.

"Found anything?" Steve asked, just as they saw Bucky kicking a chair out of his way.

"Too much," Bucky answered, somber for once. "More than I ever wanted to."

Diana looked at the piles and piles of papers on the desks, each of them full of names and pictures from the people taken to Majdanek. She knew, just by looking, that the place couldn't contain all those people at the same time; that could only mean they were always opening new spots. Diana felt sick.

Averting her eyes, Diana turned, glancing at a picture half hidden under a pile of paper. For one second, she thought she was seeing things or that she was too far to see properly, but that couldn't be true, not with her perfect vision. So she approached and reached for it, taking the picture in her hands. She looked again, from very close this time, seeing exactly what she saw from afar.

A man without a face, as if all his skin had burned off, leaving only a–

"Red Skull," said Steve, approaching her. He pointed at the picture. "That's the man behind HYDRA, Johan Schmidt."

That was the Red Skull? Diana looked back at the picture, staring at the man's eyes. Diana knew no normal human could survive such injuries, it was impossible. Steve had told her the Red Skull was a super-soldier, like him, stronger than common people. But regardless of the serum he had taken, regardless of his appearance, there was one thing that Diana couldn't stop looking at.

His eyes. No human could possess such cold, evil eyes.

"Steve!" she exclaimed, pointing at the picture. "I was wrong all this time. Ares is not behind the Red Skull, he _is_ the Red Skull!"

* * *

 **HYDRA Headquarters, Swiss Alps – February 1** **st** **, 1944**

"The Führer is not accustomed to being ignored, Herr Schmidt," said Roeder, a high-ranking officer of the SS, as he followed Johan Schmidt through the corridors of his base, his companions Hutter and Schneider by his sides. "He funds your research because you promised him weapons."

"You serve at his pleasure," Schneider added. "He gave you this facility as a reward for your injuries."

Schmidt scoffed.

"Reward? Call it what it is: exile," he said, without stopping. "I no longer reflect his image of Aryan perfection."

"You think this is about appearances?" Roeder asked. "Your HYDRA division has failed to deliver so much as a rifle in over a year. And yet we learned through our intelligence that weapons _are_ being manufactured! Our soldiers spoke of a tank in Lublin, capable of unquantified levels of destruction! And what do you do with it? Nothing! You lost it, and Lublin, to the Allied Forces!"

"The Führer feels it – how does he put it? – 'The Red Skull has been indulged long enough!'"

That made Schmidt stop. He smiled, not yet turning to face the SS officials, allowing the rage flow through his veins as if it were a narcotic. So the Führer thought he was the one indulging him? Ironic. Very slowly, Schmidt turned, his eyes passing from one SS official to the other; he could almost taste their fear.

He was wearing his mask of synthetic skin, covering his injuries, but that wasn't the reason they couldn't face him; power was. They knew, instinctively, who was in charge there.

"Gentlemen," he started, "you have come to see the results of our work. Let me show you."

And with this he opened the doors to the lab. They could see the scientists working, Arnim Zola, his brightest mind, among them.

"Hitler speaks of a 1000-year Reich, but he cannot feed his armies for a month. His troops spill their blood across every field in Europe, and still he is no closer from achieving his goals."

As he said that, Schmidt pulled the covering of one of his cannons.

"And I suppose you aim to win this war through magic?" Roeder mocked.

"Science," Schmidt corrected him, as he turned his controls on. "But I understand your confusion. Great power has always baffled primitive men." He was in silence for a second, adjusting the panel. "HYDRA is assembling an arsenal to destroy my enemies in one stroke, wherever they are, regardless of how many forces they possess, all in a matter of ours. That tank you mentioned? Just one step in a long walk."

" _Your_ enemies?"

"My weapons contain enough destructive power to decimate every hostile capital on Earth," he continued, ignoring Roeder. "Quite simply, gentlemen: I have harnessed the power of the gods."

The cannon began to vibrate, making a small noise, but nobody paid attention to that.

"Thank you, Schmidt," Schneider said, sarcastically.

"For what?"

"For making it clear how obviously mad you are."

Madness… How often little minds stared at great ones and saw nothing they could understand? It was pitiful, really.

"Berlin is on this map!" yelled Hutter, suddenly, staring at a big map covering his table, full of enemy capitals marked.

Schmidt barely reacted.

"So it is," he agreed, as the cannon turned to point at the SS officials.

"You will be punished for your insolence!" said Roeder, clearly more frightened than angered. "You will be brought before the Führer himself!"

That was the last thing he said, as the cannon fired, the blue energy vaporizing him. Abandoning any pretense of bravery, the other SS officials began to ran, trying to save their lives. It was, of course, futile. Hutter was hit next, completely disappearing, as Schneider tried to open the door.

"SCHMIIIIDT!" he yelled, before vanishing in a blue glow.

Schmidt smiled. Finally, he could drop the pretense of serving Hitler. Such a small minded man, no vision. Still smiling, he looked at Zola, seeing the doctor cowering behind the table.

"My apologies, Doctor, but we both knew HYDRA could grow no further in Hitler's shadow. "He looked back at his men. "Hail HYDRA!"

"HAIL HYDRA!" they yelled back, immediately, raising both arms.

The doctor just stared at him, too frightened to say anything; still, not frightened enough to remain in silence.

"Hail HYDRA!" he said, after a few seconds.

Schmidt smiled again, walking to the scientist.

"You are afraid of walking this path alone," he said.

Zola looked at him, pale.

"I-I just think we could've stayed with them for a little longer," he stammered. "The resources will–"

"Let me show you something," Schmidt interrupted, gently pulling Zola with him to the table where his map was. "Let me show you why we no longer need Hitler's limited mind dragging us back."

The doctor followed him with uncertain steps, until they arrived at the table. Without saying anything, Schmidt removed the map, grabbing a series of pictures from under it and placing them one by one, side by side, all across the big table. He could feel Zola's shock growing at each picture he placed down.

"Yesterday, our facility in Lublin was attacked," Schmidt began, still organizing the pictures. "We were conducting the research to develop Mjölnir, our city destroyer weapon, and our best tank to wield it, Sleipnir. We had an endless supply of manual laborers in Majdanek, we had a protected city where we could develop our weapons in peace. And we lost all that, in a single day, to the Howling Commandos and Captain America."

Schmidt smiled and looked at Zola.

"And yet, I am not saddened by it, am I?" Zola looked at him, uncertain if he should answer, but finally he shook his head. "No, I am not saddened. Do you know why? Because of _her_!"

And he placed the last picture in the mosaic he was building. There, before his eyes, was something unbelievable, something he would never had accepted if the soldier who gave him the news didn't show him proof, such incredible piece of evidence that he even allowed the man to live.

Before his very eyes was a living goddess.

Schmidt couldn't stop staring at the images. Pictures taken from different angles, at different parts of the city, showing her fighting with a ferocity not even he could compete. Lifting vehicles and even tanks as if they weighted nothing and throwing them around, dodging bullets… And if his witnesses were correct, even stopping the blast from Mjölnir using nothing but her bracelets.

He could not put into words how long he had expected for this, for the gods to walk amongst them once again. It had to be a sign. First the Tesseract, now her. It didn't matter to him that she was apparently killing his men, fighting side by side with Captain America. Gods followed their own whims and soon she would find him and Schmidt was sure he could offer something no other man could: the world.

Johan Schmidt walked the path of the gods and soon he would walk side by side with a goddess.

* * *

 **Russia – March 30** **th** **, 1992**

Diana stared at Paula's blue eyes, seeing all the emotion in them.

"If that is true," Diana started, speaking very slowly, "why did you kill my friend?"

"I already told you why, I killed a bad man who deserved nothing else," Paula answered and Diana felt rage fill her once again. Even so, she waited for her to continue. "A man who would've started a new war so soon after the end of the last, just because he couldn't accept not solving a puzzle. Only because he just _had_ to replicate the Super-Soldier Serum."

Paula looked at Diana, not intimidated by her in the least.

"The serum that flowed through Steve Roger's veins. The serum that flowed through the veins of the Red Skull. The serum that countless people died so its secrets could be unveiled. And Howard Stark finally did, at the twilight of his life, just to prove he could. Only one more crime to add to a long list."

Diana smiled, but her eyes showed no reflection of that.

"So that's why my friend is dead? Because you wanted to save the world?" Diana asked, sarcastically.

Her sarcasm was met with deadly certainty.

"Yes, that is why Howard Stark is dead," Paula von Gunther affirmed.

The steel from Diana's sword touched Paula's chest.

"Allow me to show you my appreciation, then," Diana snarled.

Instead of piercing her with the sword, however, Diana sheathed it once again, grabbing the Lasso of Hestia from her hip. With a practiced and quick move, Diana wrapped the lasso around Paula's neck and leaned above her once again.

"Now, let's start over," she said, feeling the heat of the lasso. "Why did you kill Howard Stark?"

Paula von Gunther closed her eyes for a moment, no doubt feeling the magic of the golden rope seeping in her, but aside from that she didn't show signs of discomfort.

"The Lasso of Hestia… I've always wondered how it would feel," Paula mentioned, smiling, before opening her eyes and facing Diana. "Howard Stark was a threat to peace in the world," she said, after a moment, and Diana felt her eyes widening at each word. "He flooded the world with new and dangerous weapons, with no thought of how they would be used. He helped to create an intelligence agency too powerful to be contained. And he replicated the Super-Soldier Serum, giving no thought about how the countries around the world would throw themselves at war all over again simply to obtain it." She stopped talked and looked Diana in the eye. "He needed to be stopped."

So Paula was telling the truth… Or at least what she believed to be the truth. That was the Lasso's only weakness: some truths were dependent on belief. Paula von Gunther wasn't lying, she truly believed in what she said, otherwise the Lasso of Hestia would have interrupted her. But that didn't mean that what she said was unquestionable.

It was a story being told from her point of view, nothing else. Still, it put things into perspective. Paula hadn't lied to her, not intentionally at least.

"Did you send the Winter Soldier after Howard?" Diana asked.

"Yes. I needed to end a threat and to secure the Super-Soldier Serum," Paula answered, still without any signs of pain. "That serum could not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands."

"So you made sure they fell into the right ones? HYDRA's?" Diana asked, sarcastically.

"No," Paula von Gunther answered calmly, "yours."

Without noticing, Diana got up, releasing the pressure that was keeping Paula on the ground. Once again she had answered with the truth; what changed this time was the answer itself. Why would Paula von Gunther, a descendant of HYDRA members, secure the Super-Soldier Serum for her? Nothing about that made any sense.

"I did not lie when I said I was waiting for you for a long time, my Goddess," Paula continued, gazing respectfully at Diana as she got up, slowly, no doubt wondering if Diana would attack her again. "I've seen the atrocities the Nazis and HYDRA committed. I've seen what my family paid for. The Red Skull talked about a unified world, but all he wanted was destruction, I could see that even as a child."

She finally stood, her eyes not leaving Diana even for a second, the Lasso still around her neck.

"And to do what they did they followed the God of War. Ares was the one guiding HYDRA and the Red Skull didn't even notice until the very end. Until you came up." She approached on step. "You, a true Goddess, a savior. You were the one who ended the war, killing Ares, finishing that once and for all."

Paula gave another step forward.

"I have been fascinated by you ever since. I looked for you, I tried to find you again. I knew since then that if we wanted to correct this world, we would need you back. A Goddess to lead us again." She smiled. "My family did not agree with me, so like Howard, they had to be stopped."

Diana could only listen, not able to say anything.

"I acquired the von Gunther's fortune and what was left of HYDRA and I used it to find everything I could about you." She looked around, glancing at the truly amazing stash of historical and magical objects in the room. "But still, nothing would matter if I couldn't find you once again, if I couldn't bring you back."

"Bring me back for what?" Diana asked.

"For you to lead us to a new Era, to a new world!" Paula exclaimed. "Schmidt's HYDRA was a decadent organization, but at least they understood that this world is rotten to the core. War after war after war. You defeated Ares and ended his reign, only to see a new war rising a few years later, now fought between the very nations that called themselves allies! The world was almost consumed in nuclear fire because humans simply _can't stop fighting each other_!"

Paula von Gunther approached another step, her eyes wide as she spoke.

"Atrocities on top of atrocities, senseless deaths, conflict… This world needs a savior, my Goddess. Otherwise humanity will fight themselves until there is nothing left." Suddenly, she kneeled. "I pledge myself and everything I own to you. My strength is your strength, my resources are your resources, my armies are your armies. Please, save us!"

Diana had forgotten how to speak as she looked at Paula von Gunther. She was expecting virtually anything when she got there, a powerful enemy, maybe even an army, advanced technology and maybe magic itself. But a cult of worshipers? That she didn't see it coming at all.

The reason Diana had lost the ability to talk, however, wasn't the fact that she was facing a fanatic; she had been warned Paula von Gunther was obsessed with the gods. The reason Diana couldn't speak were Paula's words.

And how she caught herself agreeing with them.

Diana had left Man's World because she couldn't stomach it anymore. Paula hadn't lied about that, humanity was set on destroying itself. Ares had said the same thing to her once and even though she hadn't believed in him at first, seeing mankind's atrocities over the years had changed that. She was naïve enough to believe she and Steve had saved the world, but humanity had cured her of that affliction quickly enough.

It was a century of horrors and Diana had lived most of it alone. So if anyone understood the meaning behind Paula's words, that someone was Diana.

But at the exact moment she realized that, her mind flashed a very different set of images. Not of suffering or tragedy, not of lowliness and sorrow; quite the contrary. She remembered Howard, young and handsome as he was when she met him, buying the first set of clothing she ever had in Man's World. She remembered the first time he took her flying and then, years later, when he taught her to fly. She remembered when he introduced her to Jarvis and gave her a room to live in his house, right after the war, a time she was so lost she didn't even know what to do.

She remembered when he introduced her to Maria and, later, when he called her to give her the good news, that he would have a son. She remembered him laughing as she held little Tony on her arms, the cutest baby she had ever seen, telling her that he would have given anything to have Steve there with them. She remembered feeling happy for the first time in a long while, with Peggy, Howard, Maria, Jarvis and Tony around her.

Howard had made mistakes in his life, but he was family. And he was dead because of the woman in front of her; no amount of ideals and philosophy would change that.

"And how do you plan to save the world?" Diana suddenly asked, the memories fading as she looked at her.

"By cleansing Man's World," Paula answered, immediately. "This world is in chaos, we need to reestablish order, by any means necessary. That was what HYDRA stood for once, before the Red Skull perverted it as his own destruction army."

And there it was, just as she suspected; Diana almost scoffed.

"So your plan to end war… Is to make war?" she asked.

Paula von Gunther didn't seem offended.

"You are the Goddess of War, milady. You should know that war can be fought for dozens of purposes. You fought one to defend the world, haven't you? This is exactly the same: a war to save our world."

Maybe it was the arrogant way she said those words, that gave the impression that she knew everything, or maybe it was the callous way Paula treated Howard's death, but what she said made Diana's blood boil fast.

"Killing my friend, _my brother_ , is your way to save our world?" Diana asked, her voice coming out slowly and dangerous. "I care about very few people in this world. One of them, someone I considered a brother in all but blood, died during the war. Another, the man I loved more than anything, died before we could even begin our lives. My brothers in arms aged and died, one by one, during the course of the years." She got closer from Paula, her eyes burning with fury. "My sister is near the end of her life… And my last brother was killed by your assassin."

Diana was almost touching Paula's face now.

"So tell, me, Paula von Gunther, how exactly did you think you would convince me to fight with you?"

For the first time since Diana arrived, Paula's expression carried doubt. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but it was there and Diana could see it.

"You are a Goddess," Paula repeated, as if speaking something obvious. "Mortals live and die every day, why would you care if some of them died?"

The way she said that made it seem she truly couldn't understand how Diana could care that much for her friends. And Diana was beginning to suspect she really couldn't. Paula von Gunther understood power, respect and faith; she did not understand love all that much.

"If you have to ask, no answer I can give will make you understand," Diana said, holding the Lasso still connected to Paula's neck as if to remember her it was there. "The Winter Soldier, where is he?"

The change in the conversation made Paula frown, but she couldn't very well refuse to answer.

"I don't know," she finally said, with a hint of pain. "There are hundreds of bases where he could be, I don't know where he is."

"That's convenient, isn't it?" Diana snarled.

"But true, as you well know."

"Oh, I know. I just find difficult to believe someone like you would be confortable about _not_ knowing where your best assassin is. It feels almost deliberate, doesn't it?"

"It was deliberate," Paula confirmed. "I knew that if the Winter Soldier was here, nothing I could say would prevent a conflict. So I sent him away."

Diana would like nothing more than to do the exact same thing the Winter Soldier did to Howard to the Winter Soldier himself, a hundred fold, but right now that would have to wait.

"And the serum?" Diana demanded. "Where is it?"

Paula von Gunther smiled.

"Right here. I did say my strength and my army were yours, didn't I?"

Her eyebrows shot up when she heard that and her eyes focused on Paula once again. She had used the serum on herself?! The risk of that was enormous. It already was when Steve was injected and he had the scientist who invented it and Howard Stark to oversee the procedure.

Still without saying anything, Diana passed her eyes from Paula to the four others, catching on for the first time the state of their bodies; she knew immediately that they had been injected as well. She had been with Steve for enough time to be able to identify the strength inside their bodies, the strong muscles, the enhanced senses, the balance their stances possessed... And as she looked at them, she saw Paula smiling again.

"They will be yours to command," she announced. "A Goddess of your stature deserves the best champions." She turned to look at her soldiers as well. "They are HYDRA's top assassins, more kills than anyone in HYDRA's history. They speak 30 languages, can infiltrate any place, defeat anyone. They could take an entire country in one night without anyone noticing. Fit soldiers for the Goddess of War."

Diana guessed before, but she was certain now: Paula von Gunther wanted war. She wanted to throw the whole world back into the flames of battle if that could make them bend their knees. HYDRA was but a tool she was using, as were the men behind her and even Diana herself, she supposed, even if Paula claimed to worship her.

The sad thing was that she truly believed she was doing something good. The Lasso of Hestia guaranteed that much honesty from her. Paula von Gunther really thought that this would solve all the problems in the world. That suddenly everything would become a paradise. Diana knew very well it wouldn't. War was war, no matter the motive. Even when fought with good intentions, the result was always suffering.

"They will be your vanguard," Paula continued, excited, oblivious to Diana's thoughts. "We can have this confused country by its knees by the end of the week. Start our offensive from here. With you leading us, it will be only a matter of time before we have the world. And then we can begin to set things right, to make things as they should be!"

She was looking at Diana, her eyes wide with thrill; Diana simply stared back, her face blank.

"Finally we can end this world's sorrow! We can make a better one! We can–"

"I've heard enough," Diana interrupted and Paula stopped mid-sentence. She looked into Paula's eyes once again. "My answer is 'no'."

Something broke inside Paula von Gunther when Diana said those words. Her expression didn't change, she didn't utter a word, but it was clear as day that her spirit had shattered when Diana spoke. On another day, with another person, Diana might've felt pity for her; the Lasso of Hestia proved she wasn't lying, she truly wanted to make a better world.

But, like they said, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. Diana had seen too many of that already, evil men trying to do good things, only to end up doing worse deeds; and Paula von Gunther had the means to do very bad things indeed.

She needed to be stopped.

For almost five minutes, Paula von Gunther only looked forward with glassy eyes. She didn't move or say anything, just stayed where she was, the Lasso of Hestia still around her neck. Suddenly, she blinked.

"I see," Paula said, finally, her voice weak. Her eyes weren't glassy anymore as she looked at Diana. "I see now, I was wrong. It was supposed to be me all along." She raised her hand and held the golden rope linking her to Diana. "I wasn't supposed to follow a Goddess. I'm supposed to _become_ one."

Diana raised her eyebrow, trying to find any sense in what Paula had said; that's when she closed her hands around the Lasso of Hestia and _pulled_. Diana knew for a fact that her godly strength was so beyond the strength of the Super-Soldier Serum that they might as well be humans compared to her. Steve, strong as he was, was always physically inferior to her. Logically, Paula's pull should barely register.

Instead, Diana felt herself leaving the ground, flying in the air before she had the chance to react.

She was so surprised that it cost her the chance to defend herself. Her back collided against one of the stone pillars in the room, breaking in half as it touched her muscles and armor, the cloud of dust covering everything as the whole thing fell down. Diana heard the pieces of the pillar hitting the ground as she got up, eyes fixed on Paula.

And on her glowing gauntlets.

Diana had assumed that the gauntlets she was using were just a piece of armor, some relic she found over the years. And in a way she was right, except they weren't _just_ that. No, if Diana was right, the marks glowing white on the gauntlet's surface meant they were very famous indeed.

The Gauntlets of Atlas.

An artifact built by the god Hephaestus himself, gifted to the amazons before Themyscira even existed, capable of multiplying the strength of its user several times. As far as Diana knew, they had been lost after the amazons were enslaved and never found again; Paula von Gunther proved her wrong.

"I wonder, Goddess of War, if I kill you do I inherit everything you own?" Paula asked, suddenly, making Diana forget about the gauntlets.

When she said that, Diana was already moving, dodging the flurry of bullets coming from behind her. The enhanced soldiers began firing in her direction, their powerful ammunition obliterating the stone of the pillars as she rolled to the side, raising her bracelets. She deflected some of them back, forcing the shooters to stop for a second, and kicked one half of the pillar in their direction.

The multi ton piece of stone flew in the air as if Diana had kicked a can of soda, and the soldiers jumped to evade it, moving with the same fluid movements Steve once had. Without looking at them a second more than she had to, Diana turned and drew her sword, advancing against Paula.

She heard the metal screeching as Paula did the same, running against her as well, and in the split of a second they clashed. The sound of the swords hitting each other was deafening and the air around them trembled, but neither of them paid any attention, as they began their dance.

The speed of the blades moving was almost too much for a human to see and Diana knew Natalia was seeing only a series of blurs around them. Even so, Paula was responding to each attack with perfection, her own speed and reflexes matching Diana's, the Gauntlets of Atlas giving her incredible strength behind each blow.

Diana, however, was still stronger.

Using her own bracelet to deflect Paula's blade, Diana kicked her chest, her muscles delivering such a powerful hit that Paula was sent flying against the relics she had piled up in the room. As she did that, she was already spinning to deflect a powerful punch delivered by one of the enhanced soldiers, holding him by the neck and lifting the sword to pierce his chest.

Before the blade could even touch him, however, Diana felt a bullet passing by her ear, coming from behind her; the enhanced soldier's head exploded in a rain of blood. Diana grinned; Natalia was alert, it seemed.

Dropping the man, Diana, used her blade to defend herself against the bullets coming from the other side of the room, being fired by the only enhanced woman. Her sword moved fast, cutting the air, hitting the bullets as they arrived and deflecting them to the side; until she slightly changed her position, this time deflecting it back to the woman.

She dodged two of them, but she just wasn't quick enough to avoid the rest as they hit her chest; one, two, three, one after the other, dropping her on the ground.

There was no chance to celebrate, because before Diana could even see the enhanced woman fall she felt the air in the room change. And as soon as she did she turned to see a huge stone pillar flying in her direction, horizontally, in a direct trajectory to her and Natalia just behind her.

Diana did the only thing she could: she punched it, straight in the middle.

* * *

Natalia was out of her depth, she realized that quite quickly. There was a goddess, four enhanced soldiers and an enhanced woman wearing some kind of magical armor that made her as strong as Diana; and she was not even a teenager yet. Still, she was there now, for the first time by her own will. Nobody had forced her to follow Diana, nobody sent her to fight.

That, somehow, made all the difference.

She could see at the moment they arrived that Paula von Gunther was crazy. She talked well, she inspired confidence, but Natalia knew enough to know a fanatic when she saw one. And if Diana was the woman Natalia thought she was, then it was only a matter of time before they fought to the death.

So she wasn't exactly surprised when the fight began. What surprised her was the intensity of it. She had seen Diana fighting before, but she never saw someone actually hold their own against her. And Paula von Gunther was doing just that. Natalia could barely see their swords colliding against one another, both of them moving fast enough to become blurs. But as she knew it would happen, Diana soon had the upper hand.

Paula von Gunther was sent flying to the other side of the room and Natalia was certain that if she wasn't enhanced Diana's feet would have turned her body into mush. There was no time to dwell on that, however, because as soon as their boss was out of the way the soldiers attacked again.

They moved fast, faster than any normal human could move, but not fast enough to trick a goddess. Diana easily immobilized the man; Natalia saw her chance and fired. The bullet hit the target just as intended. The man was dead but neither her nor Diana had time to stop, as more bullets came in their direction. And then a whole pillar.

Natalia had no idea how she would dodge the flying stone pillar, but as her mind tried to find ways for her to escape Diana simply punched it. The pillar broke into two, the halves flying one to each side of Diana and her. Her eyes were wide when she saw that, her hair swaying as the pillars passed fast by her sides; well, that solved that problem.

Before the two halves had even stopped, Diana was already jumping forward. She moved so quick that the enhanced soldier in front of her had just the time to raise his rifle, before her blade swept the air; Diana's sword went through the gun and the man as if it hadn't met any resistance whatsoever.

The last soldier was paralyzed by Diana's side, probably realizing by now that whatever he chose to do was bound to failure. So Natalia took her shot; the gunfire echoed in the closed room, the bullet flying fast to the target. Afraid or not, unfortunately, the enhanced soldier had enough sense to move.

He managed to dodge the bullet at the last moment, jumping to the side without even turning, only to see Diana raise her arm and deflect the bullet back to his forehead.

Well, as long as it worked…

* * *

Diana stared at Paula, approaching with her sword raised, as the last enhanced soldier fell to his death.

"Your army is down, Paula von Gunther," Diana said. "There is still time to come out alive from this."

Paula almost roared when she advanced, the Gauntlets of Atlas glowing white as she attacked. Diana defended herself from the flurry of blades, dodging and deflecting her sword, using all her formidable training to show Paula just how much she was outclassed. Rolling, Diana, picked the Lasso of Hestia from the ground.

"Last chance," she warned.

"You are blind!" Paula yelled, attacking again. "Blind and deaf to the suffering of this world!"

"No, I can hear them just fine," Diana answered, defending herself from the increasingly feral attacks. "That is exactly why I won't add to them by starting a war against the whole world."

"So you chose to do nothing?! To just watch as humanity tears itself apart? _Hypocrite_!"

Diana deflected Paula's sword with her bracelet and struck; the blade made an arc in the air and hit von Gunther's left arm right where the Gauntlet ended. With nothing between the blade and the arm the result was very predictable.

"ARRGHHH!" Paula yelled as her arm was detached from her body.

Without losing any time, Diana struck again, hitting the right arm just as she did with the left; Paula's scream hadn't ended yet, but the second half was even louder than the first. The shock of the injury made her fall down, the blood pouring on the floor.

"Strength comes with a price, Paula," Diana said, as Paula tried to get away from her, dragging herself on the ground. "The Gauntlets of Atlas exchange power for fury. The longer you wear them, the more rage you feel. And it's hardly in your best interests to lose your sanity during a battle."

There was no answer from Paula, just a murderous look as she gasped in pain.

"Don't worry, the serum is already congealing your blood, you won't die from those injuries," Diana said, as she approached, Natalia appearing by her side as well. "Which is more than you _deserve_!"

Diana snarled that last bit, finally allowing herself to feel all the rage boiling inside her as she stared at Howard's assassin; one of them, at least. Paula didn't know where the Winter Soldier was, but she definitely knew enough to give her direction. She just needed some time to make questions.

Before she could start, however, Paula began to laugh. It was a desperate laugh and Diana considered for a moment if she hadn't lost too much blood.

"I waited so long to meet you," Paula said, finally stopping to laugh. "So long to meet the Goddess I prayed to every night. Every night when I saw all the bad things my family did I would go to my room, kneel, and tell you all about it. I would ask for help, for guidance." She looked at Diana's eyes. "You never answered. But then I thought: you are the Goddess of War. You value strength and what strength is there in asking for help? So I solved the problems myself. And I went looking for you."

She moved, the blood of her injuries beginning to stop. Diana and Natalia watched her in silence, neither of them knowing what to say, if anything.

"I dreamed about building a better world," Paula whispered "I wanted to stop this chaos, to give mankind the life they deserve."

"You would have made things worse," Diana whispered back, feeling for the first time pity for the woman in front of her.

One more human she had failed, Diana thought.

"My Goddess took one look at Man's World and turned her back at us, disgusted. Maybe I would make things worse," Paula agreed, closing her eyes. "But at least I tried to do something. Can you say the same?"

Her words hit Diana like a slap to the face. And before Diana could even shake herself out of the stupor, Paula von Gunther reached for her sword using her feet, raised the blade, and threw herself heart first on it.

She was dead before Diana blinked.

* * *

Diana felt the cold Siberian winds on her face, howling, as the snow fell. She had left Paula von Gunther's base after destroying the bodies and taking back the dangerous artifacts she had collected, before collapsing the entrance with bombs. Natalia was already inside the Quinjet, ready to go back, but Diana needed a few minutes alone.

Paula von Gunther was dead and with her any chance of finding the Winter Soldier. She had lost the last clue to find Howard's assassin. The true responsible for his death, at least, was dead; it was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

What was in Diana's mind right now wasn't the fact that the Winter Soldier had escaped; it was Paula's parting words.

For almost half a century Diana had hidden herself, too shocked with Man's World atrocities. She saw war after war happening a few years after she killed the God of War, a few years after the man she loved died to save the world. She saw allies turning against allies, weapons with obscene destructive power being mass produced, genocide… Nothing they fought to stop during the War had truly stopped. Some things got worse.

She couldn't take it. It was just too much, so she left. She just… stopped trying.

"You would be so disappointed in me," Diana whispered, suddenly, her eyes closed. "You gave your life for them and I… I couldn't even be bothered to stay. I gave up."

Diana felt her cheeks getting wet, but even so she didn't open her eyes.

"She was right, Steve. I could do nothing or I could do something and I chose nothing. This is as much their fault as it is mine."

Her eyes opened and she stared at the snowy fields.

"I wish you were here with me," she said. "I wish none of this had happened. But you are not and it did. I miss you more than you can possibly imagine, Steve. Maybe… Maybe that's why. You died a hero and I am not even close of being one anymore."

Diana grabbed Steve's compass around her neck, feeling warmth despite the cold metal.

"I think it's time to change that."

* * *

 **New chapter guys! End of an arc! I hope you like it. Please, review, favorite follow… Thanks for everything!**

 **angelvan105: Happy Birthday! A little late, but I hope it still counts!**


	12. Chapter 12 - Time Never Stops

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 12 – Time Never Stops**

 **Paris, Diana's apartment – April 5** **th** **, 1992**

Diana opened the bedroom's door slowly, carefully not to make noise, even though she knew Natalia was up. As she was already aware, Natalia had her eyes open and turned to look at her, still tucked in her bed, looking incredibly adorable under her red and blue sheets, Captain America's shield proudly displayed on its surface.

Of course, the cuteness of the view was somewhat lessened by the big knife on the nightstand, the loaded pistol by her pillow and the mounted sniper-rifle pointed outside, ready to shoot any threat through the big window.

Small steps, Diana reminded herself, small steps.

"Good morning," Diana said, smiling. "Breakfast is ready."

Natalia nodded and got up, somehow managing to hide her pistol in her Captain America pajamas as she did so. Diana didn't mind one bit; she obviously wasn't a normal child and would never be, so if the guns made her feel safer, well, all the better for her.

"I hope you like pancakes." Diana said, as Natalia sat down in front of a plate full of blueberry pancakes. "It's one of the few things I can make that actually taste good."

Natalia simply looked at her plate.

"I've never eaten pancakes before," she finally said, picking up her fork.

"Then you won't have anything to compare to," Diana joked, also sitting down, pulling a notebook and a pen together with her plate.

Both of them were in silence for several seconds, only the faint sounds of writing and the cutlery filling the room. Apparently, Natalia liked her breakfast, because she was eating faster and faster; that made Diana smile.

"What are you doing?" Natalia asked a few moments later.

Diana didn't answer for a few seconds, still writing nonstop. "I'm writing down the information necessary for your fake documentation. I'll send it to someone I know and a few days from now he'll send us every document you need."

That seemed to catch her interest, because she stopped eating to watch Diana now.

"Don't worry, it's not the first time I've done this," Diana reassured her. "I had to change identity a few times over the years too."

"Do you need any help?" Natalia asked.

"It's mostly done, but I do need your opinion on the 'name' part," Diana answered, looking at her. "Should I just go with 'Natalia Prince' or do you have a better idea?"

Natalia's eyebrows raised for a second and she looked at Diana with an unreadable expression for a moment; then, very slowly, she smiled. For a time there, Diana saw nothing but a happy child in front of her.

"I like that," she whispered, shyly.

Diana smiled. "'Natalia Prince' it is, then. I'm not that imaginative when it comes to fake names, to be honest. I find it a lot easier to keep things closer to what we are used to."

"I went by 'Natasha' sometimes," Natalia observed.

"We could use that next time," Diana stated, nodding, as she wrote something else. "So you are 'Natalia Prince', daughter of 'Diana Prince' and 'Steve Prince'."

Diana finished writing with a smile, extremely satisfied with herself.

"You really do have a problem with names, don't you?" Natalia deadpanned.

"Just eat your breakfast," Diana countered, fake scowling.

Closing the notebook, Diana pushed it away and started eating too. The past few days had been unusually quiet, no work, no unforeseen events, no people trying to kill her. They had just stayed home, got out to buy the things Natalia needed, watched TV… Things that would bore Diana out of her mind on normal times, but somehow made her feel quite content right now.

"I actually wanted to tell you something," Diana said, suddenly, remembering the talk she had with Peggy. Natalia stopped eating for a second, looking at her. "I spoke to Peggy yesterday – your friends are alright, by the way – and she offered you a job."

There was just silence.

"As an agent, I mean," Diana added, trying to fill the silence. "You will, of course, go through a training period and you won't be sent to any mission right now, not until you are ready, and only the missions you want to take, of course."

She still didn't say anything.

"You would undergo your training in the Triskelion, in Washington D.C," Diana continued, more to fill the silence than anything. "I mean, you–"

"Can I still visit you sometimes?" Natalia asked, resigned, her voice so low that Diana wouldn't have listened to her if her own hearing wasn't that good.

Diana was by Natalia's side in less than a second, her hand touching her cheeks.

" _We_ can come back to Paris whenever we want, but I think it would be much easier for both of us if we bought a place in Washington." Natalia's eyes got wide for a moment. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you, unless you want it. I just mentioned Peggy's offer because I thought it would be good for you, so you can meet some people more… _aligned_ with what we do."

Natalia still didn't say anything, she just kept staring at Diana.

"So I don't… I don't have to go?" she asked.

"You don't have to go anywhere you don't want to," Diana affirmed. "And you can go at another time, should you wish it. Or not at all. I just…" Diana sighed, trying to come up with the right words. "People like you and I… We are different. There is no way around that. Can you picture yourself going to school? Organizing playdates? Going to birthday parties?"

The outraged expression on Natalia's face was answer enough.

"In SHIELD you could at least meet people who understand our way of life a little better. Not completely, of course, but better than any children in a school, of that I'm sure."

"But what about you? Are you coming too?" Natalia asked.

Diana smiled. "No, that is a path open only to you. I'm afraid I'm a little _too_ different to fit there as well." She got up and sat on her chair again. "Like I said, it was only an offer. You don't have to accept it or you can accept it later. Peggy had a team in mind for you to lead, should you go to SHIELD."

"Team?"

"Your friends," Diana answered. "When they are ready, Peggy suggested to form a new team for them. "She hesitated for a moment, almost embarrassed to say it out loud. "She plans to call them 'Amazons'."

That particular piece of information made Natalia smile.

"That doesn't sound so bad, then," she joked.

She mock scowled again, getting up. "If you think so, then come with me, I want to show you something."

Hesitantly, Natalia followed her through the apartment, entering her room. She remained by the door while Diana opened her closet, pulling a big chest from inside it, using a key to unlock it. It was full of clothes, old clothes from different times, objects from past years that belonged to Diana and mattered enough for her to keep it.

Digging through it carefully, Diana removed the clothes out of the way, reaching all the way to the bottom. Until she retrieved a pair of silver bracelets; she turned to Natalia.

"I found this in Greece during the 60's," Diana said, picking Natalia's arms. "They are a relic from my people, the amazons, probably lost there for thousands of years after they left to Themyscira."

Diana slid the bracelets on Natalia's arms, closing the with a _CLIK_.

"Long ago, humanity was lost. They were corrupted by Ares and thrown in war against themselves. And for a long time there was just blood, brother killing brother, a never ending war. Until Zeus created the amazons. "She got up, allowing Natalia to study the bracelets. "The amazons influenced mankind with love and stopped the wars and for a time there was peace… Until Ares came back. The amazons were enslaved and they suffered that fate for centuries, until my mother, Queen Hippolyta, lead a rebellion that finally freed them, allowing the amazons to go to Themyscira."

She pointed at the bracelets on Natalia's arms.

"Those are called the Bracelets of Submission. Every amazon has a pair. They are a reminder of the years of enslavement but, even more important than that, they are a reminder of what the amazons went through and managed to _survive_."

Diana kneeled and put her hands on Natalia's shoulders.

"I cannot make the things that happened to you go away, no matter how much I wished I could. But you survived. And you came out victorious. Just like an amazon."

Natalia raised her arms, her eyes fixed on the Bracelets of Submission.

"You deserve them. And you deserve to be called amazon. Never forget that."

* * *

 **London – February 4** **th** **, 1944**

Colonel Chester Phillips watched as Sir Patrick made his speech to the war council, saying the same things they had already said a thousand times before, that HYDRA needed to be fought with all their might. That the SSR needed to focus their resources fully against them, otherwise they would lose the war. Basically, Sir Patrick was repeating word by word what he already said a few days ago, to the same people.

This time, however, they had the remains of the biggest tank and the pieces of the most powerful cannon any of them had ever seen in their lives displayed in the room, giving them just a taste of the power HYDRA had in their hands.

It made all the difference. This time, the officials weren't interrupting Sir Patrick at every moment or not paying attention. This time they were hanging on his every word, moving their eyes from him only to look at the intimidating weapons in the room and then quickly back at him. Captain Rogers and his men did a very good job indeed.

Knowing that they had already won this battle, Colonel Phillips quietly got up and left the room. He had been there for hours, enough to realize that the Allies would give them anything they wanted now; something about the knowledge that HYDRA was building weapons strong enough to wipe out entire cities in one shot made them strangely compliant to their requests.

Of course, that wasn't everything the Howling Commandos had uncovered during their brief trip to Poland. No, it wasn't enough for them to just find a HYDRA base, a new tank model that was incredibly more powerful than any other vehicle they could build and a cannon that could vaporize towns; they also found out all atrocities happening in the Nazi's concentration camps.

There had been whispers of it. "Undesirables" being rounded up and taken to especial prisons. There was no way to keep such a big number of people just disappearing a secret, so it wasn't like the Allies knew nothing about it; they just weren't sure how bad it was. And by the documents the Howling Commandos had uncovered, alongside the living witnesses they brought, they could reach the conclusion that is was beyond bad.

The Nazis were exterminating people. It was as simple as that.

That proof sent ripples across all layers of the Allied forces. They knew the Nazis were bad guys, but this? This was worse than anyone could imagine. And it had to be stopped. While the SSR got their wish to stay focused in the war against HYDRA, Colonel Phillips already had his own ideas about how to help in that particular fight.

But that was a thought for later. Right now, Colonel Phillips had other things in mind. Like, for example, finding out how the hell did the Howling Commandos accomplish what they did in Lublin; he knew how talented they were, he knew how dangerous Steve Rogers was, but to send that small amount of men to a city to accomplish a dangerous mission and have them come back not only successful in that regard, but also successful in liberating Lublin from the Nazis? That was incredible. And, frankly, unbelievable.

He had to know exactly what happened.

It didn't take long for Colonel Phillips to arrive at the SSR's HQ and he quickly made his way to the briefing room, where Barnes, Dugan, Stark and Agent Carter were waiting for him.

"So? Are we finally free to win the war?" asked Stark, the first to see him coming in.

Colonel Phillips closed the door before answering: "Sir Patrick is making sure of that."

They all cheered for a second and it was a happiness he shared with them; the SSR was formed to fight HYDRA, after all. They had a job and they all wanted to see it completed.

"Enough about that now," Colonel Phillips said, sitting down. "You have been debriefed already, but I want to know exactly what happened in Lublin. I want to know precisely how did you manage to do what you did."

Barnes and Dugan looked at each other, as if talking with their eyes.

"Well, remember when you said that Diana could possibly destroy any chances of success in the mission because she wasn't used to following orders, sir?" Barnes asked. "Turns out you were both right and wrong."

"How so?"

"Diana really isn't that good when it comes to following orders," Barnes continued, smiling. "It took her a matter of minutes to disagree with Steve and do whatever the hell she wanted to do. Can't say I blame her, even Steve changed his mind, but, well, it didn't take her long to disobey, you were right about that."

"And how was I wrong, then?"

"She did disobey Steve," Barnes answered, "but that girl is so damn powerful that it didn't really matter, sir. Steve made the call to continue with the mission because we didn't have the men to free Lublin and Majdanek, but it turned out we didn't need numbers; we had _quality_."

"How strong is she?" Agent Carter asked, looking curious.

" _Very_ ," Barnes breathed, obviously impressed. "I'll say this much: Steve is to her as we are to him. She is like a super- _super_ -soldier. The things she did… I mean, Steve is impressive, you saw him in action, but I have never seen someone tossing a tank to the air with their bare hands."

"A tank?!" Stark exclaimed.

"A tank, vehicles… Nothing in her way was left standing," Dugan added. "That little woman is a force of nature."

"She managed to defend herself and Majdanek from the weapon HYDRA built to destroy entire cities," Barnes said, as if he still didn't believe in it. "I'm going to be completely honest with you, sir, none of us would've made out alive, much less accomplished the mission, without her. What we did, we did because of Diana. She really is a Wonder Woman."

Dugan seemed to agree. Colonel Phillips could just stare at them, thinking about what he had just heard. And the fact was, he didn't know what conclusion to take from this. He knew the woman Rogers found was enhanced, but how could someone have so much power? Stark and Agent Carter seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"It makes you think, doesn't it?" Barnes started again, not really talking to anyone. "If she wasn't telling us the truth all along, about being made by a god."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Stark, immediately. "Just because we found out she is a little stronger than we thought it doesn't mean she was actually telling the truth."

Colonel Phillips agreed wholeheartedly with Stark, but Barnes and Dugan didn't seem to. _That_ was odd. And it made him think some more. What they saw had left an impression, that much was clear. But enough to turn those two reasonable men into believers? Something told him that he was missing an important part of the puzzle.

"There is something else though, sir," Barnes said, looking a little uncertain if he wanted to say anything else. "She, um, seems to believe that the Red Skull is the God of War himself. The Greek one, I mean, Ares. And she said it's her mission to end him."

When did his life become so strange?

* * *

Steve opened the door to the briefing room and entered as fast as he could, knowing very well he was already late. Diana, much more relaxed, followed him, licking a cone of ice-cream with a happy smile.

"Sir, I'm sorry! We got held back at the–"

"Relax, Captain Rogers," answered Colonel Phillips, barely looking at him. "There is no rush, we are all busy men, after all."

"And the line to the ice-cream stand is long," added Stark, smirking at Steve, obviously guessing the reason they were late. "How do you like it, Princess?"

"It's wonderful! Man's World should be _very_ proud!"

Steve couldn't help but to smile. Super-Soldier Serum, a cannon that could destroy entire cities, a tank so powerful that it was basically a moving fortress, planes, ground and aquatic vehicles, fire weapons… And it was the ice-cream invention that managed to impress Diana.

It said a lot about how she saw the world; he just wished more people were like that.

"Get closer, you two, we have a lot to discuss," Colonel Phillips said, pointing at the big map on the table. "Sir Patrick managed to get all the help we needed to fight HYDRA. Of course, he only did that because you accomplished your mission, so congratulations. Unfortunately, there is no time to celebrate. Each minute we spend here, doing nothing, is an extra minute HYDRA can use to gather the material and build another Mjölnir. We cannot allow that to happen."

All of them, Steve, Diana, Peggy, Bucky, Howard and Dugan looked serious now, the previous playfulness gone.

"We have the location of some HYDRA bases and, maybe more important, we have the list of material needed to build those weapons," Colonel Phillips continued. "What we are going to do is hit all that and wipe them off the map. The Allied Forces are going to work in cutting the supply chain, the places where they can gather equipment and the people required to build the weapons and we are going to concentrate against the bases."

The bases were marked on the big map, most of them by Steve's own hands, and all eyes were upon them. It was good that the rest of the Allies realized the danger HYDRA represented, because the situation would quickly get out of control otherwise. The number of known HYDRA bases was big and Steve knew, by experience, that each of them was well defended.

They had soldiers more than ready to die for their cause, advanced weapons and equipment, well-built defenses and, more importantly, a leader who was smart, committed and evil.

It was a fight that would decide the future of the world, maybe even its very existence.

"Now, I know we are up to the task," Colonel Phillips said. "But make no mistake, this is not going to be easy. The Red Skull is a crazy bastard, but he is a damn good commander and his HYDRA is fiercely loyal. And that is why we need to defeat them all."

Suddenly, Colonel Phillips turned, his eyes fixed on Diana. The contrast between the hardened soldier, fully clad in his military uniform, and the small woman, using her civilian clothes and licking an ice-cream was almost laughable.

"You, Miss Prince or Diana or – what is it they were calling you? – _Wonder Woman_ ," he started, getting closer, looking at Diana with a very serious expression. "You disobeyed your commander in the middle of a mission. You disobeyed a direct order and placed yourself and everyone else in danger. We could have lost _everything_. Your lives, the mission and, with it, the war. You do know that, right?"

Diana looked back at him, not looking intimidated in the least.

"I know that, sir," she answered, simply.

The silence stretched for almost a minute as both of them stared at each other. Until Colonel Phillips nodded.

"Good," he said to Steve and everyone else's surprise. "Means you are not crazy or stupid, just stubborn." He sighed, turning back to the map. "I don't know how you did what you did. I don't know how you are so powerful. You say you were made by the gods? That you are hunting Ares, the God of War, and that he is masquerading as Schmidt? I don't really care if that's true or not, but if you want to shove a sword through Schmidt's heart I will do everything I can to help you do it."

Now even Diana looked surprised, her ice-cream forgotten.

"You _are_ stubborn, but you are also a damn good warrior. And we need every warrior we can find right now." He looked at her again. "Can I count on you?"

Diana's fierce smile was answer enough.

* * *

Diana's eyes roamed the map, stopping at each marked location. Steve, they told her, was the one who identified most HYDRA bases there, a valuable piece of information he acquired when saving the men who would later become the Howling Commandos from one of the bases. Soon, they would be hitting all of them, wiping them off the map one by one, with the help of the Allied forces.

Her attention, however, wasn't on the bases right now; it was on the other places marked on the map. Places they acquired form Majdanek's archives when they searched the camp. Locations of other Death Camps, much like Majdanek.

The SSR responsibility was to fight HYDRA, Diana understood that. That whole mission served to remind the Allies of that. So, by definition, the concentration camps weren't their responsibility right now. Colonel Phillips and Steve had guaranteed that the Allies would send forces to save those people and Diana had no reason to believe they weren't as outraged as she was with this, but it didn't change the fact that she wanted to be there with them.

"It is unthinkable, isn't it?" spoke a voice behind Diana.

She knew she wasn't alone in the briefing room, but as far as she could see, she was the only one by the table. Shocked that she was apparently so distracted that someone was able to surprise her, Diana turned quickly, only to be confronted by Sir Patrick. Diana almost laughed, imagining just how she could not hear him or his cane.

He smiled at her, as if apologizing for the startle, and stopped by her side, also looking at the map.

"I still can't believe how low humanity can sink," he whispered. "I thought I saw horrors during the Great War, but apparently it was just a warmup for the true terror."

Images that Diana witnessed in Majdanek flashed in her mind for a moment, making her wince.

"I cannot… I _cannot_ believe humanity is capable of that," she answered. "There is something else, some greater evil behind all this, it has to be."

Sir Patrick nodded, smiling sadly.

"Yes, I've heard, you believe all this was caused by Ares."

Diana sighed, tired. "You think it's silly as well, right? Well, I know it's tru–"

"You misunderstand me, Miss Prince," Sir Patrick interrupted her. "I would never make light of anyone's faith, certainly not the faith of a woman who did so much good already." He looked at her surprised expression. "No, you should never apologize or hide what you truly believe, no matter what others say in response."

"But?" Diana asked.

"But… But I, unfortunately, can't believe that all this _evil_ is because of one person, no matter how powerful said person is."

"He is the God of War," Diana argued. "Not just anyone."

"But he is not the one killing people industriously, is he?" Sir Patrick countered. "Humans are killing humans. Would a being, even a god as powerful as Ares, be so powerful as to make humanity simply cast aside all their morals and just do this? Or is it more likely that humans are just inherently flawed? Easily corrupted… Evil."

"Mankind is good!" Diana exclaimed, simply not believing how a human could think so low of his own race.

Sir Patrick looked down, his eyes passing across the several marked death camps.

"I'd like to believe that, Miss Prince. And I commend you to believe as fiercely as you do. I just… hope that your faith in mankind is not shattered by what you will indubitably see in the coming battles."

Diana didn't know why, but she felt a deep cold inside her chest when Sir Patrick said that. Before she could dwell on that, Peggy approached them.

"Sir Patrick, I wanted to thank you again for all the help you provided us," she said, respectfully. "We could not have achieved this without you."

"My dear, you do not need to thank me at all. We all fight the battles we can. I fought mine so the SSR can fight theirs. We are all together in this, after all."

Peggy smiled. "Still, there weren't many willing to aid us, sir, and you did."

She watched Peggy talk to Sir Patrick for a few moments, barely paying attention to what was being said, and when Peggy finally turned to leave she reached and touched her arm.

"Peggy, can we talk? In private."

Clearly curious, Peggy nodded and guided Diana to a room in the back, closing the door behind them.

"What is it?" she asked.

Diana fidgeted for a few moments, wondering exactly how she would say what she needed to say, until she just blurted out: "I kissed Steve!"

* * *

Peggy was paralyzed. She heard the words, she understood their meaning, but somehow her mind simply didn't catch up with them. So she just stared back at Diana, motionless, not capable of answering or even thinking.

That only made Diana fidget nervously even more.

"It wasn't Steve's fault!" Diana continued, anxiously. "It was all me. He was unconscious, after we destroyed Mjölnir and I-I was worried. I thought he was going to die! And I… I couldn't do anything. I was afraid and-and he looked so hurt and I… I'm sorry, Peggy. I don't know why I did it, but I-I… I just kissed him."

She said the last words so low that Peggy almost didn't hear it. The meaning was clear, though and Peggy just didn't know how to respond to that. Diana had kissed the man she liked. She and Steve weren't dating, he didn't have any kind of obligation to her and she didn't have any obligation to him. Logically speaking, she had no reason to be upset at all.

The last time she saw Steve kissing someone, however, she was so pissed she fired a gun at him.

Against his vibranium shield, of course, she would never harm Steve, but the message was clear to both of them. Unfortunately, rationality and emotion rarely mixed. She liked Steve and she knew Steve liked her. While they weren't in a relationship they had a bond. To Peggy that meant it was only a matter of time before they became a couple and she was sure Steve thought the same way.

He was the only man Peggy ever imagined herself with. Not because he was Captain America, not because he was handsome and famous, but because of what he was in the inside. Steve was a good man, honorable, decent, willing to do anything for the sake of those who needed help. And he was like that even when the only means he had to fight was to get punched a lot.

Peggy waited her whole life to find someone like Steve. And now this happened.

"Why?" Peggy asked, just as Diana was about to talk again.

Diana closed her mouth with a snap. And didn't say anything in response. She just kept staring at Peggy, her eyes wide and confused, like a scared deer.

" _Why?_ " Peggy repeated, louder, not yelling but firm. " _Why_ did you do this?"

"I-I don't–"

"You do know, you just don't want to say it," Peggy interrupted, harshly, moving closer. "You were the one who kissed him, Diana, you said it yourself. _You_ made the choice. _You_ were the one who touched him, who leaned over him, who–"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Diana exclaimed.

"THEN FIND OUT!" Peggy screamed back. "This lasso of yours makes you tell the truth, doesn't it? Try it!"

Diana's hands were shaking when she grabbed the lasso on her waist, fast, as if she did it in reflex instead of a planned act, and when her fingers touched it she too stopped moving. For a moment, Peggy thought she would release it, but then she closed her eyes and took a long breath; her hand closed tighter around it.

There was almost a minute of silence and then Diana opened her eyes again.

"I love him," Diana whispered. There were tears falling down her cheeks as she looked at Peggy, but she held her stare. "I love him, Peggy. I-I don't know when it happened, I didn't mean for it to happen, but–"

"But you love him," Peggy finished for her, lowering her gaze.

Diana looked down as well, ashamed, but then she approached Peggy.

"I love him, Peggy, but I will step away if you love him as well," Diana stated, her hand still wrapped around the lasso. "You are my friend and I have no doubt that I will come to love you like a sister in time. So if you ask me, if you truly love Steve, I _will_ step away, you have my word."

She lifted the Lasso of Hestia in front of her, offering it to Peggy.

"Do you want me to step away? Answer me truly."

Peggy didn't want to hold that lasso. She was afraid of it, afraid of what it would force her to confront. But Peggy Carter didn't back away from anything out of fear. Extending her hand, Peggy grabbed the lasso, her hand touching Diana's.

Like her, she took a deep breath, feeling the warm golden rope under her fingers.

"I… I love Steve." She closed her eyes again, feeling the warmth coming from the lasso envelop her entire body. "But I am not in love with him yet."

Peggy widened her eyes, surprised that those words came out of her mouth. She looked from the lasso to Diana. The amazon smiled at her, kindly, the tears still marking her face.

"I have no doubt you will grow to be in love with him," Diana said, her voice very low. "And that you two would be very happy together. That's why I want to know, from your mouth, if you want me to step away."

"Can you?" Peggy asked.

Diana looked in Peggy's eyes, conveying exactly how truthful she was. "Steve was the one who showed me the world was bigger than Themyscira. He fought for my sisters in Paradise Island, tried to help them when HYDRA attacked. He was there when I was mourning my aunt. He taught me that I could… That I could do nothing or do something and that was what made me leave Themyscira to help. He reminded me of the purpose amazons have in this world and hiding away isn't it."

She cleaned the tears on her face with her sleeves.

"I didn't mean for this to happen, Peggy, please believe me. But–"

"He is easy to love," Peggy said, smiling sadly. Diana nodded.

Peggy looked at Diana, seeing not the powerful warrior that had almost single-handedly liberated Lublin from the Nazis, but a woman in love. Just a girl, much like herself, full of fears and doubt, someone in love for the first time. More than that, she saw a friend, a _true_ friend, who would turn her back on the possibility of being with the person she loved because it would hurt a woman she only knew for a brief time, but already considered a good friend.

Yes, Peggy could see Steve falling in love for her too, quite easily.

Without even noticing, Peggy felt her vision becoming blurred and her cheeks getting wet. She closed her eyes, trying to cut the flow of tears, but that didn't help at all. Timidly, as if asking for permission, Diana lifted her hands and dried her face, her gesture slow and kind.

"You are my friend too, Diana," she said, before she lost her courage. "And I don't want to see you in pain."

"I don't want to see you in pain either, Peggy," Diana answered, still holding her face. "It breaks my heart to see you like this and I'm… I'm regretting to have said anything about this at all. I should've just stepped away."

"No, friends don't lie to each other," Peggy said, also grabbing Diana's hands, the lasso wrapped around their fingers. "You-you were right to tell me. I might not have liked what you said, but I always want to know what goes in your mind." She looked down at the lasso. "And liking or not, this forced me to confront some things about myself."

And the thing Peggy was forced to confront was that she didn't love Steve, not romantically. He was her friend, she admired him, she was attracted to him, but all that didn't amount into love, at least not yet. One day it would, if she allowed herself, Peggy had no doubt. But now?

Maybe it was a good thing to have touched the Lasso of Hestia.

"I won't ask you to ignore your feelings for Steve, Diana," Peggy said, suddenly. "You are in love with him and I'm not. If he… If he feels the same, you have my blessing."

"But–"

"Don't get me wrong, Diana, I am sad. I'm hurting. And for a moment there I almost punched you, even if it would end up harming me more than you… But I do consider you a friend and I don't like to see you unhappy. Nor do I want to see Steve unhappy."

Before she could react, Diana hugged her. For a moment, Peggy wanted to be anywhere but there, in the arms of the woman that had effectively just "stolen" a man she liked. But when she felt Diana's tears touching her shoulders all anger left her and she began to cry as well.

Peggy didn't know how long they stayed there, but she knew, in that moment, that while she lost the possibility of being more than just friends with Steve, she had just gained a sister in Diana.

Maybe that wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

 **Afghanistan – February 13** **th** **, 2010**

Tony Stark was starting to get bored. There was nothing but sand to look at through the windows of the military vehicle, the soldiers escorting him were struck silent by his awesomeness and the path home seemed to become longer and longer because of that; he was actually starting to regret not letting Rhodey ride with him in this car just to piss him off, because he would at least have someone to talk to now.

He took a sip of his whisky, savoring it, as he heard _Back in Black_ on the radio. His presentation of his newest weapon, the Jericho Missile, had been perfect, as always, and everybody was suitably impressed by it. No way not to be, when he was the one who developed it. It seemed the United States Armed Forces would have one more toy to play with and Stark Industries would have a lot more money in the foreseeable future.

Drinking another sip, Tony started to wonder, not for the first time, what his father would think of his company right now. Would Howard Stark be proud of what he managed to do? It hadn't been easy, that much was certain. After his parent's death, Obadiah had taken lead of Stark Industries while he finished his studies, but that was only for a short time; everybody knew, _expected_ , him to come back and take the company back, to manage it like his father did.

For most of his life, that was all Tony wanted, a chance to prove himself. A chance to get out of his father's shadow and for once in his life be his own person. A chance of recognition. To be better or at least as good as his father.

Except that when he got his chance all that didn't really matter anymore.

The letters he got from that woman on his parent's funeral, the letters written by his father to her, were proof enough that Howard Stark loved him. Proof that he saw Tony's talent and potential. Proof that, even if he had never said anything, he had noticed Tony. To someone else, those letters might've seemed meaningless, but they meant the world to Tony.

Diana Prince. That was the name of his father's friend. Or at least the name she introduced herself with. From time to time Tony thought about her, remembering that day; he did, after all, owe quite a bit to her. And yet, what he knew about her couldn't fill a notebook's page.

He asked his old butler, Jarvis, about her, since he seemed to know her. Of course, sarcastic as always, Jarvis simply answered that "she wasn't looking or interested". And despite all his questions, he never really got an answer from him. Tony was known for being stubborn, though, so he kept looking. He wanted to know who that woman was, how she knew his dad and, more importantly, why did Howard Stark seem to be so respectful of her.

That she was, still to this date, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen didn't hurt his thirst for answers either.

It wasn't as if he went full stalker on her, he wasn't a creep, but even so the amount of answers he got was disappointing. It was almost as if she was hiding or if someone was purposely erasing her tracks. Tony did consider the fact that she might be a criminal, but when he made that question to Jarvis his butler almost died laughing so much; a true concern, since back then he was already pretty old.

The years passed, things happened and his drive for answers lowered; his curiosity, however, remained and seemed to pop up whenever he thought of his father. No amount of thinking about it, however, was going to do any good, so he tried to change his thoughts to distract himself.

"I feel like you are driving me to a court-martial," he said, suddenly, looking at the silent soldiers in the car with him. "This is crazy, what did I do? I feel like you are going to pull over and snuff me. What? You are not allowed to talk?" Nobody answered, still watching him with wide eyes. He looked at the soldier by his side. "Hey, Forest!"

"We can talk, sir," the soldier answered, fast, still not looking at him.

"Oh, I see. So it's personal."

"No, you intimidate them," the driver, a woman, answered.

Tony pretended to be surprised. "Good God, you are a woman?! I honestly… I couldn't have called that. I mean, I'd apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first."

The soldier began to laugh and Tony felt their nervousness drop. He loved being famous and powerful, but sometimes it annoyed him how much it separated him from people. Not that he liked or wanted to talk with most people, but still…

"I'm an airman," the driver said.

"You have, actually, excellent bone structure there," Tony pointed out. "I'm kind of having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?" This seemed to completely break the ice and everybody began to laugh openly. "Come on, it's okay, laugh!"

"Sir, I have a question to ask," the soldier sitting by the driver said.

"Yes, please!" Tony answered, drinking from his glass.

"Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?" the soldier asked, impressed.

Tony smiled and took his sun glasses off. "That is an excellent question. Yes and no. 'March' and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins," he answered, smugly. "Anything else? You are kidding me with the hand up, right?"

The soldier quickly lowered his hand. "Is it cool if I take a picture with you?"

"Yes, it's very cool," Tony answered and the soldier smiled like a little kid, taking his camera and passing it to the soldier by the driver.

"I don't want to see this on your MySpace page," Tony warned, as they got closer for the picture; the soldier made a 'peace sign'. "Please, no gang signs." The soldier quickly lowered his hand. "No, throw it up, I'm kidding." The 'peace sign' was back, with the full smile of the soldier. "Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace."

"Come on, hurry up!" the soldier said. "Just click it, don't change any settings, just click it!"

And at that moment the car driving in front of them exploded. All of them jumped in shock and the driver quickly stopped the car to avoid a collision.

"What's going on?!" Tony asked, his adrenalin pumping.

"Contact, left!"

A flurry of bullets hit the vehicle, the gunshots sounding incredibly loud.

"What have we got?!" Tony yelled, confused and afraid, as the driver opened her door and was quickly put down.

"Jimmy, stay with Stark!" the soldier by the driver ordered, as he opened his door and left the vehicle.

"Stay down!" the soldier yelled, pushing Tony against the seat; Tony didn't fight him.

He could hear more and more gunshots now, people yelling in rage and pain, soldiers falling like flies all around them.

"Son of a bitch!" Jimmy yelled, also getting out of the car.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Tony yelled. "Give me a gun!"

"Stay here!" Jimmy yelled in response, closing the door, one second before being drilled by bullets alongside the car windows.

Tony flinched when the bullets impacted the interior of the vehicle, his ears ringing loud. Terrified, he looked around, seeing the soldiers escorting him in the other cars dying as well. Desperately, Tony opened the door and jumped out, not knowing what the hell he was going to do yet.

It was a war zone. There was fire everywhere, explosions, smoke, bullets flying. He started to run, searching for cover, looking for anything at all that could help him, his expansive suit feeling uncomfortable as ever as he fled. Yelling, he jumped behind some rocks, hearing bullets hitting them as he did it, and picked his cell to call for help. But before he could, a missile landed just by his side.

The last thing he saw before the explosion was the "Stark Industries" logo printed on it.

* * *

 **Hey, guys, new chapter! Hope you like it! Review, favorite, follow… Thanks for everything!**


	13. Chapter 13 - The Hunt Begins

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 13 – The Hunt Begins**

 **Afghanistan – February 13** **th** **, 2010**

Tony Stark was in Hell. There was no other explanation. His entire world was pain, darkness and fear. He couldn't tell what was happening, it all seemed to blur together into a never-ending reality of pure torment.

He could hear strange voices and screams. Maybe he was the one screaming? He didn't know. There was a blinding light upon his eyes and all he could see were shades passing over him, cutting him, the sound of an electric saw muffling his yelling for a moment. There were flashes of blood, surgical tools, the beeps of some equipment. His chest was hurting so much he couldn't think.

Then there was a hand over his mouth and nose, the smells of chemicals taking over all his senses; Tony didn't see anything anymore.

* * *

 **Washington, DC, Peggy Carter's Apartment – February 13** **th** **, 2010**

"You know, Peggy," Diana started, biting a huge piece of her gigantic burger," I should feel guilty about smuggling these grease bombs for you to eat, but I'm not."

"That's because you are too busy eating them," Peggy laughed, drinking her chocolate milkshake. She closed her eyes, letting the flavor dance in her mouth for a second before swallowing with a moan of pleasure. "I swear, if the doctors had their way, I would eat nothing but pills."

Diana smiled, her mouth completely full; the contrast between her super-model looks and her sheer gluttony made Peggy almost spit her shake when she laughed. It was good to see her friend happy, to be with her, to hear her laughing so carefree after a lifetime of battles and extremely tough choices. Even so, every time Diana laid eyes on Peggy, she felt her heart clench a little bit.

Time had passed. And while Diana remained the same since WWII, everybody else aged.

Peggy was old, there was no two ways about it. She was now 86 years old and even aging well, she had aged and was now in the twilight of her life. And no matter what Diana said, no matter how strong she pretended to be, that scared her more than anything. She wasn't afraid of death, quite the opposite; she was afraid of being left behind.

Moving closer to her all those years ago really was a good idea. She liked Paris, Europe in general, but Washington wasn't bad at all. And Peggy was there. It was also good for Nat, giving her the chance to meet some people and socialize, even if the people she met were spies and their socializing usually involved guns.

"I'm taking a vacation," Diana said, suddenly. "A couple of weeks. We should do something."

Peggy gazed at her with a knowing look.

"Are you sure?"

"What? The Smithsonian is going to survive two weeks without me."

"Oh, I'm sure they will, but I might not survive two weeks gallivanting with you," Peggy retorted. "Your vacations are usually a little more exciting than what I can take these days."

Diana gaped at her, outraged. "Once, it happened once!"

"You stopped the genocide in Rwanda, Diana! Pretty much hunted Death Squads all over Africa. You dealt such a blow to organized crime in Europe that to this day the syndicates and families are afraid to do anything that might call the attention of the 'Avenger Goddess' back to them. You stopped who knows how many armed conflicts just by reputation alone, without ever showing your face!"

Peggy put her chocolate milkshake down, pointing her finger accusingly at her.

"And you did _all_ that during 'vacations'. So when I say I'm worried about traveling with you on your 'vacation', don't act like I'm crazy!"

She didn't really have a good answer to that, so Diana did the next best thing: rolled her eyes while biting her burger again.

"I was thinking about going to Disneyland or something," she muttered. "Nat liked when I took her."

Peggy was still smiling, but this time kindly. "I'm sure people would be a lot less afraid of her if they saw that picture she took with Pluto."

Diana couldn't contain her giggling. "Maybe for a few minutes, before she found out and did something terrifying to all those involved." She sighed "Nat was so cute dressed as Snow White. She wanted to go as Captain America, though."

"Captain America is not a Disney princess," Peggy objected.

"I blame Howard for that, he wouldn't let them buy the rights to use his image. I think Steve would do a fine Disney prince. Or, case in point, princess."

"She didn't want to go as 'Wonder Woman'?" Peggy asked, smirking.

There was a pleased expression on Diana's face.

"I suggested, but she said she already was an Amazon, so it made no sense to pretend to be one."

If Diana sounded extremely proud, it was because she was. If there was one thing in all these years that she didn't and would never regret was taking Natalia with her. She never imagined back then that Nat would end up meaning so much to her; in the beginning she was just a child that needed help.

Now? Now they were family.

"That face," Peggy started, making Diana look at her. She touched Diana's cheeks and smiled at her. "It's been a long time since I've seen that face. It makes me happy to see you smiling again, Princess." Diana sat by her side on the bed. "You were gone for so long…"

"I came back," Diana answered, her voice almost inaudible.

"You did." Peggy held her close. "And this time I hope you'll stay."

Diana closed her eyes, understanding exactly what Peggy meant. Grief and pain had sent her away for almost half a century; it wouldn't happen again. It _couldn't_ happen again. If not for Diana's sake, then for Natalia's. It wasn't easy, but she learned her lesson.

"I'm not going anywhere," Diana finally said. She looked at Peggy. "And neither are you, at least for a long time."

"Well, you never know. If you keep bringing these 'grease bombs' I might not last much longer," Peggy joked.

Diana grinned and quickly bit Peggy's burger. "More for me."

Peggy sighed. "If there was one thing I always envied in you was your ability to eat like that and keep looking like this."

She had an answer on the tip of her tongue, but before she could say anything her cellphone rang. Slowly, more than a little distracted, Diana took her hand to her pocked and took the cellphone out.

"Yes?" she asked, not bothering to see who was calling.

" _Are you with Peggy?_ " came Nat's voice from the phone; Diana smiled.

"I am. We were just talking about you. Remember when we went to Disney–"

" _Tony Stark was kidnapped in Afghanistan,_ " Natalia interrupted, her voice entirely serious.

A cold dread took Diana's body; something obviously appeared on her face because Peggy also became serious.

"Meet me at home," Diana answered, already getting up.

Her mind couldn't help but evoke old memories, unpleasant memories from years ago. Memories of Howard Stark's death; her brother's death. Diana didn't know what happened, who was behind this, but she would find out. Tony Stark would not have the same fate his father had, that she promised.

"What happened?" asked Peggy, as Diana grabbed her things in a hurry.

She was sure that having to ask what was happening was a novelty for the woman who founded the biggest espionage agency in the world, but she was retired for a while now.

"Tony Stark was kidnapped. I don't know anything about it yet, I'm meeting Nat to learn more."

"Oh, God!" Peggy's shocked face probably mirrored Diana's. She looked at her. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to bring him back, you have my word," Diana promised, as much to Peggy as to herself.

Peggy nodded, looking down for a second. "Howard always bite more than he can chew, he is always getting into trouble!"

Diana did a double take; she frowned. "You mean Tony."

Both of them stared at each other. And in that moment, lasting barely a second, there was a mix of confusion, hopelessness and pain in Peggy's eyes; then she nodded.

"Yes, I meant Tony, of course!" Peggy replied, unusually irritated.

Diana stared at her for a few more seconds and kissed her cheeks, saying her goodbyes. She closed the door and allowed herself to breath for a moment, her mind still stuck in what she had just seen in Peggy's eyes; her hand trembled for a second, until she controlled herself.

Tony needed her help now. She would worry about Peggy later.

* * *

 **Czechoslovakia, HYDRA Base – March 25** **th** **, 1944**

"I never thought I would see something like that," Bucky mentioned in awe, looking at the sky despite the storm of blue energy shots hitting the cover in front of him.

If Bucky was talking about the fact that Diana had just lassoed a plane and pulled it to the ground, Steve was obliged to agree; he also never thought he would see a plane being lassoed, but here they were, seeing it happen. Since Diana joined them things like that tended to happen quite a lot.

Forcing himself to look away, Steve glanced over his cover; the fight wasn't over yet. There were 4 men and a tank protecting the base yet.

"Cover me!" he yelled to Bucky, jumping over the cover and running towards the HYDRA's soldiers.

Immediately he felt the blue energy shots hitting his shield, but the vibranium just reflected them back, hitting and disintegrating one unlucky soldier before he could move. Bucky took his chance and dropped other two from where he was with perfect shooting and Steve bashed the one left with his shield, throwing him high up in the air.

His eyes, however, didn't even leave the tank.

The cannon turned to him and fired, the loud noise echoing even in the middle of the battlefield; Steve didn't slow down. He just kept advancing, running against the explosive shell, and with an almost gentle movement he angled his shield in front of him; the tank shell bounced on his shield and went up, far away from them, colliding against the walls of the HYDRA base.

Ignoring the explosion, Steve jumped on the tank and bashed it with his shield, the vibranium cutting the metal of the hatch with almost laughable easiness. And before the HYDRA's soldiers inside it could even react, Steve tossed a grenade inside.

Now it was over.

The Howling Commandos watched the tank exploding as if it were a fireworks show, already cheering another victory over HYDRA. This was the fifth HYDRA base they destroyed since Diana joined them and Steve could honestly say they were acquiring a taste for it. Maybe for the first time the war was going their way.

Why was Steve feeling nervous then?

HYDRA didn't seem concerned about being defeated. Their losses were piling up, their resources were being depleted, their men were dying and even so HYDRA didn't seem concerned; that worried Steve. Since the Battle of Lublin the Howling Commandos were winning time after time and Johan Schmidt wasn't getting worried.

Why? What did he know that they didn't? Did the Red Skull have a plan? Did he just give up? Steve had no idea, but he was afraid that this change was caused by something. Or better yet, someone.

"Steve! Howard and Peggy are here," Diana called him, approaching with a smile.

Even with his head full of questions, Steve couldn't help but smile back at her. There was just no way not to be affected by her sunny disposition, even immediately after fighting a battle. Raising his eyes, he looked at the approaching vehicle bringing Howard and Peggy; they stayed out of the attack, but were here to help collecting any clues about what HYDRA might be doing.

He could only hope there was any.

"Captain, you wouldn't believe in what they pass for a meal here!" Howard Stark complained as soon as he got out of the car.

"Military rations, Howard, they are not meant to taste good, but they are edible," Steve answered absent minded.

"Barely! I know I can't expect top of the line stuff here, but–"

"Howard, enough!" Peggy interrupted, clearly at the end of her patience. "I've heard enough. We all heard enough, give it a rest!"

He opened his mouth again, but something in Peggy's expression made him rethink his next move.

"Fine," he conceded. "But when I pass out because of–"

"Enough!"

Before Peggy ended up beating Howard up, Steve started to guide them to the entrance of the base, Bucky and Diana joining them. Despite Howard being obnoxious as always, they would need his intelligence right now and they would need him conscious for that.

The Allied soldiers and the Howling Commandos were running around the battlefield, setting up the defenses, making sure the place was as secure as they thought it was. Being a HYDRA base, who knew what to expect?

He turned fast when a loud noise called his attention; Diana was pushing the remains of the tank he exploded out of the way as if it was made of paper. He could see the people around widening their eyes at the sight, still incapable of believing the things she could do. Steve himself was amazed most of the time, but now they had a job to do. Taking his shield from his back, Steve smashed the steel door, opening it with a loud _bang_.

"Am I the only one starting to feel a little inadequate around these two?" Bucky whispered at Peggy.

Peggy shrugged, but nodded a little bit; Howard, on the other hand, was strutting like a peacock, same as always.

"I don't," Howard announced, unnecessarily.

They all just sighed.

* * *

 **Washington, DC, Diana's Apartment – February 13** **th** **, 2010**

Natasha Romanoff, aka Natalia Prince, aka Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, aka Black Widow, aka a thousand other different names she assumed over the years, put her thumb against the door's scanner. A brief red light glowed and then she approached her face, so the retina scanner could scan her eyes. There was a _CLICK_ and she opened the door.

Diana, of course, wasn't the one responsible for those security measures, Natasha was. Before she got her hands on the apartment the door had the flimsiest of locks, barely an annoyance to someone who knew what they were doing, but when she confronted Diana about that she answered with a simple statement:

"Who would steal from me?"

Well, Natasha pitied the fool who would try, but she didn't like to take any chances with people she cared about. Entering the big apartment, Natasha walked quickly, already knowing her way through the place, passing the several antiques displayed in the corridors until she reached the room she knew Diana would be in: the library.

To say the place would be the envy of any museum in the world would be an understatement. The sheer number of books, scrolls and manuscripts kept there was unbelievable, but more important than that was their rarity. There were books in Diana's library that no one else had even seen, pieces of history not only from this world, but from others. The amount of knowledge there was incredible.

So was the danger it represented; maybe she wasn't so wrong in installing her own defenses in the place.

"Natalia!" Diana exclaimed as she saw her, embracing her. "I missed you."

"We saw each other last week," Natasha deadpanned, but she could feel Diana smiling, knowing very well what she really meant.

When she released her, however, the smile disappeared and her face showed exactly how worried Diana really was. Natasha didn't like to see her like that. Diana cared about very few people in this world; she was lucky to count herself in that selective group and so were Peggy Carter and her great niece, Sharon. That was it. Maybe there were some other people she didn't know about, but she doubted it.

Howard Stark, of course, belonged to that group once upon a time as well; and his son was just kidnapped.

As far as Natasha was aware, Diana had no contact with Tony Stark all those years. They weren't friends, they didn't even know each other truth be told, but Natasha also knew that Tony's father, Howard Stark, was a man Diana considered a brother; hard to miss that detail when they met during Diana's killing spree in Russia all those years ago, while she searched for Howard's assassin.

It wasn't difficult to notice that she felt responsible for him.

Natasha would be the first to admit that she did not care about Tony Stark at all. While the man wasn't on the same level as the scum she usually dealt with in SHIELD, he wasn't exactly a good man. He was narcissistic, arrogant, a weapons dealer and a womanizer who was content to sleep with any woman he came across, as long as they fit his beauty standards. Personally, Natasha wouldn't care even a little bit if he died.

But she did care about Diana and Diana, for some reason, cared about Tony Stark.

"What do you know?" Diana asked, impatient.

"Not as much as Fury would like," Natasha admitted. "Tony Stark was in Afghanistan, demonstrating his new weapon to the Army. The tests went on successfully and he went back with a military convoy to the nearest base, except they never arrived. They were attacked during their return and never reached the base."

Diana looked down for a second. "How do you know he is not dead?"

"No body, no body parts, no substantial amount of blood left," Natasha answered, knowing that Diana would want a true answer instead of pleasantries. "All the soldiers accompanying him are dead and were left there. He wasn't."

She might not like Tony Stark, but Natasha had no problem in admitting that the man was brilliant at what he did. He had a mind easily on par with the most famous geniuses in history and a knack for developing weapons that would make Howard Stark proud; hell, maybe even her "uncle", the God of War, would be proud. All in all he was exactly the type of person they did not want in the hands of terrorists.

"They aren't interested in a ransom, are they?" Diana asked.

"They might ask for one, but they won't hand him over alive even if its paid, I have no doubt about that," Natasha answered. "They'll use him to develop weapons for them and then they'll kill him. It's how they work."

That interested Diana. "You know who took him?"

" _Know_ is a strong word," Natasha reluctantly admitted. "The attack was coordinated by a terrorist organization called the Ten Rings. They are old, powerful and, unfortunately, shrouded in mystery. SHIELD tried to keep eyes on them for quite a while, but they operate in individual cells, so it doesn't matter if we break one because they won't know what the others are doing. We don't even know if the terrorists we captured over the years actually are part of the organization at all or just say they are."

The amount of information they had was laughable and a constant point of embarrassment for SHIELD and Fury, that was the truth. The terrorists captured would rarely talk and even when they did, the information they had was useless. It became so hard to pursue them that the very existence of the Ten Rings was starting to raise questions; no terrorist organization that big was capable of operating without leaving evidence behind.

She looked in Diana's eyes expecting to see frustration; instead, she found recognition.

"But _you_ know more, don't you?" Natasha asked, excitement filling her.

Diana didn't say anything for a while, then she raised her eyes and nodded, turning her back to Natasha. She walked to one of the shelves full of books and pressed a hidden button on it; a print scanner appeared. Natalia raised her eyebrows.

"What? Some of my stuff is too dangerous to just leave it around," Diana defended herself; Natasha just rolled her eyes, remembering the conversation when she had told Diana exactly that.

The shelve opened to reveal a steel door with a single keyhole in it. Diana took a big key from her pocket and unlocked it, revealing another library behind it. If the stuff outside was rare, Natasha couldn't even begin to guess the value of the artifacts in this room.

Still in silence, Diana browsed the shelves until she found what she was looking for: an ancient Chinese scroll. She took it to the table in the middle and opened it; a drawing, made in red ink, appeared.

Ten rings surrounding a pair of crossed swords.

Natasha's eyes were wide as she studied the scroll. This was the only material proof of the organization's existence she had ever seen. Proof that SHIELD wasn't chasing ghosts as some of them believed. Proof that could lead them to the people who took Tony Stark.

"How- _where_ did you get this?" Natasha asked, already knowing Diana would tell her an unbelievable story.

She didn't disappoint.

"As I told you before, after the war I didn't really know what to do with myself," Diana began. "It was a world I knew very little about and I wasn't… I wasn't in the best state of mind, to be honest. So I wandered, across the whole world, visiting places I had only read about, to see things I never thought I would."

"Which led you to your job," Natasha said, already knowing the story.

As she explained when Natasha was still a child, Diana began to search for dangerous artifacts after the war. Magical weapons, godly relics that, in the wrong hands, could ignite another war. What started as a way to ensure that the world would never see the kind of horrors she saw during WWII, eventually led Diana to a career in finding historical artifacts; it became a cover for what she really did, of course, but Natasha knew, even if Diana herself didn't admit it, that she enjoyed her profession.

"Yes, my job," Diana continued, grinning. "Finding artifacts that were better off far away from evil people. Like these."

Natasha looked back at the scroll that Diana was pointing at.

"The scroll?" Natasha asked, frowning. "Is it magical?"

"No, not the scroll," Diana huffed. "The _rings_. The Ten Rings!"

Her eyes widened when she finally realized what Diana meant.

"The name of the organization is because of some rings?"

"Not just any rings," Diana explained, exasperated. "Powerful rings, magical ones, each one possessing a especial ability. And when combined, well… Legend says that the one who can wield all ten rings would have the power and the right to conquer and rule the world."

Natasha rolled her eyes; pretty much every single magical artifact from legend said something along those lines.

"Don't roll your eyes, it's a true menace!"

Diana was a "true menace" when she wanted to be, so Natasha wasn't really worried about some rings. But that reminded her of something important.

"They don't have anything to do with gods, do they?" she asked, for the first time apprehensive. If Diana was that strong, well, an artifact made by the gods would be something to worry about.

There was a weird smile in Diana's face, as if she couldn't wait to answer.

"Not gods. Dragons," she said, finally.

Okay, Natasha was not expecting that.

"Dragons? _Dragons_?! Are dragons real now?!"

"They were always real, you just never met them."

"Did _you_ meet them? And since we are talking about it, _where_ would you even meet them? China?"

"It is a considerable distance farther," Diana answered with a mysterious smile. "A place called K'un Lun, Realm of Dragons."

Turning her back to Natasha again, Diana browsed the shelves and took another scroll, this one depicting a drawing of a beautiful city that could very well be in ancient China, if not for the dragons flying over it.

"Long ago, the realm of K'un Lun opened for the first time and the dragons allowed a few chosen people to pass through and live there. They built a heavenly city, full of peace and harmony, a beacon of enlightenment. But to some, that wasn't enough. Some people believed that peace and harmony wouldn't protect them if one day K'un Lun was attacked. So they begged the dragons for a way to protect the city. Thus, the Ten Rings were forged."

"How did they end up on Earth?" Natasha asked, trying to focus on the important parts of the story without being enraptured.

"They were stolen," Diana answered, somber, "by betrayers. But before they could run away with them, they were stopped by the Protector of K'un Lun and banished. But the Rings… the Rings were lost."

She showed a drawing of the Ten Rings falling like stars from the heavenly city to Earth, alongside five people Natasha guessed were the banished traitors.

"The Rings remained lost for thousands of years. Dozens of people searched for them, all over the world, but they were never found. Not until the middle of the last century." Diana collected a few books full of notes made by her own hands, clearly the product of her own search. "I tracked them to a place in China called Valley of Spirits. Dreadful place, dangerous even for me, so no wonder people didn't come back from there. But when I got there…"

"Someone got there first," Natasha finished. Diana nodded. "Who?"

Again, Diana shrugged. "I'm not sure. And believe me, I looked. Those rings shouldn't be in the hands of just anyone."

"You found nothing?" Natasha asked, knowing very well how driven Diana was; and how equipped she was to find out what she wanted to know. If she couldn't find anything, things were really bad.

"I wouldn't go that far, but I found less than I'd liked, that's for sure," Diana muttered. "I tried to track the person who got there first, but it was… difficult. I heard absolutely nothing for the first few years, not a peep, but slowly, very slowly, news began to appear."

"What news?" Natasha said.

"Weapons moving here and there, forces amassing, money changing hands. First in China, then spreading through the rest of Asia, especially the Middle East. Didn't take long for it to start crossing the oceans. Someone was building an army, but I didn't know then which war was going to be fought and who was going to fight it."

"You do now?"

Diana nodded half-heartedly. "More or less. Nobody knows the name of the one who got to the Rings before me, I don't even know if he has one. But they began to call him 'Mandarin' and the name stuck. Mandarin, the leader of the Ten Rings, rightful ruler of the East and conqueror of the West."

The picture Diana was painting was not a pretty one. If this Mandarin guy really was a warlord set upon conquering the world, backed by a terrorist organization and ten magical rings forged by dragons, then he was more than equipped to cause a lot of destruction. Especially now, with Tony Stark in his hands, ready to develop weapons for him.

Natasha certainly wasn't expecting that the kidnapping of Tony Stark could culminate in a war.

"We need to get him back," Natasha sighed. "Fast. Do you know where to begin?"

* * *

Diana smiled at Natalia. Of course, in SHIELD, she was "Natasha Romanoff", the feared Black Widow, but in home she would always be Natalia Prince and she knew better than to question that; not that she ever did. The cold persona she used in her job was never turned to Diana or the people she cared about.

There weren't enough words to express how proud Diana was of Natalia. To say she didn't have an easy life would be the understatement of the century, but here she was, a top agent of SHIELD, keeping the world safe, using the training she received to learn how to kill to save people instead.

Of course the Red Room wasn't the only one who trained her.

When Diana gave Natalia the Bracelets of Submission and told her she was an Amazon she meant it. That included being trained as one. Natalia knew how to fight, how to kill, and she was good at it, even as a child. After Diana's training, however, Natalia became a master. Her sisters back in Themyscira might be stronger than her, but Diana had no doubt that Natalia was equal, maybe even beyond them, in terms of skill.

Seeing her wearing the Bracelets of Submission proudly on her wrists made Diana want to introduce Natalia to her mother more than ever; there was no one else she wanted by her side in this quest to save Tony Stark.

"When I began my search for the Mandarin I had nothing else to go on," Diana started, thinking fast. "This time we have a 'crime scene' to search for clues."

"The soldiers who arrived there first didn't know what to look for," Natalia mentioned, pensive. "They probably left important things out."

"My thoughts exactly," Diana agreed, smiling. "So, are you up for a little trip?"

Natalia smiled back. "Well, Fury did tell me to find out what I could."

"How is Fury doing, by the way?" Diana asked as they left the library. "Still nosy?"

"That's part of the job description, isn't it?"

"Yes, but he does excel at it. Peggy didn't know just how much when she passed him the throne," she added, tiredly.

Director Fury was a good spy. _The_ spy, truth be told. Diana didn't know him personally back then, but Fury caught Peggy's interest during the end of the Cold War, leading vital missions in soviet territory, gathering information that helped them end the war. In few words, Fury was a man that did what needed to be done. A perfect one to assume command of SHIELD.

Still, "nosy" didn't begin to cover just how much Fury liked to meddle into other people's business. And to someone like Diana that was particularly worrisome.

Diana was a private person, by choice and by necessity. Howard and Peggy managed to help her in that regard, to keep the fame she acquired during the war and her immortality under wraps, but things like these tended to leave trails. "Wonder Woman" didn't exist in SHIELD's records, but out in the world who could say? "Godkiller", at least, was a pretty famous name in certain circles, even if most were too afraid to even whisper it.

Things didn't get any easier after her rampage through Russia and all the other heroics she performed after that. So far, no one had linked "Diana Prince" to any of it, but being close to Peggy and Natalia wasn't helping her in the least. Like Peggy before her, Natalia helped to keep Diana out of the spotlight, but there was only so much she could do.

Fury, obviously, tried to know everything there was to know about everyone, especially the people who worked for him. Natalia was no different, except for the fact that Fury searched _that_ much more in her case, since she worked for the Red Room once upon a time; being approved by Peggy apparently made no difference whatsoever for him. It was a sensible thing to do when dealing with an organization like SHIELD, Diana didn't disagree, but that meant she turned up in his investigation.

Not Wonder Woman or Godkiller, thank the Gods, but Diana Prince, curator of the Smithsonian, personal friend of Peggy Carter and Natasha Romanoff.

How did they meet? At the museum. Peggy met her when she visited the Captain America exhibition and then she introduced "Natasha" to her, because she needed friends. That was the story. Was it a good one? No and they were very aware of that. But it was what they managed to come up with, with all the evidence to back it up, in so little time. At least Fury didn't seem disrespectful enough to dig so much into Peggy's business.

She just hoped this little travel with Natalia wouldn't destroy her entire story.

Well, her secret identity was important to her, but she would trade it without hesitation if it meant bringing Tony back safely; she owed that much to Howard and Maria. And even if that wasn't the case, Tony deserved better than that. He might be a playboy and the very picture of everything about Howard that pissed her off, but she was fond of him.

Holding someone as a baby, watching them grow, usually does that to a person, or so she heard; maybe the fact that she _was_ his godmother played a part in it as well. She _would_ bring him back.

Trying to clear her head a bit, she turned to Natalia.

"So, Nat, how is that archer of yours?" Diana asked, grinning.

Natalia sighed. "First, he is not mine, we are just friends, I told you a thousand times already. Second, did you call that cute guy, the one with the lip piercing? It took me a while to get his number."

It was so like Natalia to turn the tables on her.

"Nothing against piercings, but I don't think I'm ready for that," Diana admitted.

"What about that pretty tattooed lady from across the street? The one who works at that bakery."

"Let's bring Tony back, then you can find me a date!"

"I'm multitasking!"

* * *

 **Czechoslovakia, HYDRA Base – March 25** **th** **, 1944**

"What the hell is that thing?!" Bucky exclaimed.

No one else said anything, but by their expressions Diana could see that his exclamation described what they were all thinking, herself included. Maybe Howard could think of more colorful words, but his voice seemed to have disappeared and she couldn't blame him.

They finally discovered what HYDRA was doing in Czechoslovakia and Diana didn't even know what to call it.

In front of them, inside some kind of cylindrical glass chamber filled with a clear fluid, was a creature that seemed to belong to depths of Tartarus itself. It was a huge monstrosity, a deformed humanoid with long uneven limbs, huge muscles that grew too big for its body, like tumors, a face permanently distorted in a silent scream and a blue skin that seemed as thick as leather.

What was that thing? Did Ares summon some type of monster to aid his armies?

"This is incredible!" Howard said, his voice finally coming back, as he approached the chamber, eyes glued to the very tall creature. "Look at the bones formation," he said, excitedly, as if he was watching the most interesting thing in the world, "how they don't follow any sort of pattern, an arm bigger than the other, fingers uneven, bone protuberances piercing the skin, especially the vertebrae..."

"What about it?" Steve asked, appearing a little concerned about Howard's enthusiasm.

"Well, it obviously didn't start that way. We can clearly see that its body was well structured, balanced, with a perfect skeleton. Something forced the bones to grow again. Look at the muscles, same thing! Malformations, protuberances of musculature in odd places, like masses of tumors growing without control. And the skin! It's thick, denser than what it should normally be to a creature of that size."

He tapped the glass, trying to instill some reaction on the slumbering creature; they couldn't even tell if it was dead or not.

"What does that mean, Howard?" Peggy questioned, clearly unnerved by the blue monster.

Stark looked back at them, a big smile on his face.

"I thought it was obvious: this is a human!" Howard exclaimed.

At the moment he said that, the blue creature's eyes opened; there was a second of suspense, when all of them could only watch. And, suddenly, with a movement incredibly fast, its hand crashed the glass chamber.

The muscular, long arm darted out with incredible speed, passing through the glass as if it weren't there, and the big hand closed around Howard's neck like a steel claw. It happened so fast that none of them could react, not even after the sound of the glass hitting the floor; only when Howard's desperate gasps escaped his constricted throat, his feet dangling frantic in the air, they moved into action.

Bucky, the closest to him, unleashed all his ammunition against the blue arm, the noise unbearably loud in the closed lab. The hail of bullets hit the mark with precision, but to their shock it did nothing; the skin was harmed, bluish blood flowing, but the bullets didn't penetrate the muscles and bones, falling harmless on the ground, and the hand didn't release Howard.

The same thing that made a human look like that had also increased its resistance; thick skin or not, however, Diana didn't hesitate to throw her sword.

The godly steel of the Godkiller sword did what the bullets could not: it slashed the hand clean off, a gush of blood flying everywhere. Howard fell on his back, the hand still stuck around his neck; Peggy jumped closer to help him pull it off, desperately fighting against the still pressing fingers, while Bucky pulled him away at the same time he reloaded.

Diana and Steve were side by side, eyes fixed on to the glass chamber and the flaying handless arm. Cracks were filling the chamber's surface, the sound terrible, as the creature trashed enraged, its muffled screams filling the place.

Then, inevitably, the chamber exploded.

The glass flew everywhere, together with the fluid inside it, and there was a roar so loud that the walls shook. The blue creature stood tall, dwarfing even Steve with its behemoth size, the long muscled arms contracting; the feet stepped heavily, cracking the floor. The ugly, deformed head turned to them.

The floor shattered when the creature lunged at them, roaring, cutting the distance in a split second. Diana had only the time to raise her shield, as the mountain of muscles clashed against her with a thunderous sound; she grunted in effort, shocked to witness such strength in something that supposedly was human once.

Diana was hearing shots coming from the other side of the room, Bucky and Peggy firing against it nonstop as she held the creature; that was when Steve moved. She could feel him passing behind her, moving so fast that her hair was blown by the wind, and suddenly his vibranium shield collided against the head of the creature with the force of a moving train. The noise alone would be sufficient to daze it, but the hit, powered by the vibrations of the rare metal, tossed the creature to the side, away from Diana.

There was a second of silence; then the creature looked at them again, twice as furious.

It lunged against them again, but this time Diana and Steve were prepared for it, moving out of the way. They could hear the creature colliding against the lab equipment, destroying everything, as they turned ready to fight.

"Diana!" yelled Peggy, tossing her sword back; Diana grinned when the familiar weapon was in her hand.

The blue monster turned and jumped against them again, except now Diana met it head on, her shield bashing its chest with incredible strength; the creature grunted, feeling its ribs cracking, and Diana took this opportunity to slash its leg. There was a jet of blood and a piercing scream as the creature fell to its knees; Diana raised her sword for the final blow.

"No, we need it alive!" she heard Howard screaming.

Diana stopped the sword an inch away from the creature's neck; it was all the time it needed to hit a powerful uppercut against her chin, tossing her like a ragdoll against the ceiling.

"DIANA!" Steve screamed, as she felt herself clash against the ceiling and fall back down, feeling pain like she had never before in her life.

Her hands unconsciously dropped her shield and sword when she fell back to the floor, dizzy, and the creature kicked her ribs almost immediately, throwing her to the other side of the room. She was bouncing against everything, her body making a path of destruction in the lab, until she finally hit the wall.

The whole place trembled, the stone wall cracking under her back; Diana groaned in pain, forcing herself to open her eyes. The creature was readying itself to lunge at her again.

The muscles of its entire body clenched, the feet cracked the floor as its legs prepared to propel the creature forward; Diana tried to shake the pain away and get up, but she knew that there wasn't time to dodge. She readied herself for the hit.

Before it could move, however, a blue and red blur collided against the creature's head.

Diana's eyes widened as she saw the vibranium shield leaving Steve's hands from behind the creature, bouncing against the floor and changing its direction up: right in the mouth of the creature. The big shield was stuck in the creature's mouth, breaking its teeth and cutting its cheeks, a hit powerful enough to send a human to the ground unconscious.

But it wasn't anything compared to the hit that followed.

Steve moved so quick around the creature that it barely had the chance to see him and then, jumping up with all the strength his superhuman muscles allowed him, Steve kicked the vibranium shield. The shield rang like a bell and the kick was so powerful that the blue creature was tossed on its back, the sound of the floor breaking only topped by the sound of its jaw cracking.

Diana had no doubt that, had it been a human to receive that hit, the top of the head would have popped like an egg.

Shaking herself from the stupor, Diana got up slowly, feeling her bones and muscles protesting against her; the sight of Steve fighting, however, was enough to give her the motivation to stand. Getting the lasso from her waist, Diana lunged forward, just as the creature began to get up again.

Yelling in fury, Diana punched the monster in the stomach just as it got up, making it bend forward and spit out Steve's shield, that was promptly recovered by him and put to good use, as Steve used it to bash the creature's chin. The hit threw the monster back, stunned, and Diana took the chance to punch its knee, feeling the bone break under her fist.

Wonder Woman and Captain America fought like they were one, synchronized, each movement completing the other, as they swirled around the creature unleashing everything they had.

Diana punched the monster in the ribs, dodging its arm as it turned to attack her, only to see it roaring in pain as Steve used his shield against the back of its still functioning leg. Even kneeling, the creature tried to lunge at Steve, furious, but the golden lasso wrapped itself around its neck and Diana _pulled_ ; the ground broke as the monster was thrown on its back.

Despite the wounds, the creature began to get up, still snarling, trying to attack them without any sense of self-preservation whatsoever. Her eyes met Steve's in a silent signal; he nodded, understanding immediately. Both of them jumped forward, each one on one side of the creature, their bodies gyrating as they attacked at the same time.

The sound of the creature's skull being crushed between Steve's vibranium shield and Diana's Bracelet of Submission rang loud in the closed lab.

It wasn't dead, they held back their attacks, but Diana was sure that after that _no one_ , not even that _hulking monster_ , was getting up. Its eyes rolled back and it let out a pitiful groan, its body suddenly losing all strength as it began to fall back. Even so, she didn't take any chances, approaching to tie up the monster.

And as she did, without any warning, the monster suddenly started to burn.

Diana and Steve were so surprised that they had no reaction, only watching as the creature began to glow blue from the inside out, holes opening, simply _unmaking_ itself, not differently than what happened to the people hit by the blue energy from the HYDRA weapons. In a matter of seconds there was nothing left for the Lasso of Hestia to wrap itself on.

They could only look at the empty space in front of them, too shocked to move, still incapable of believing what had just happened. What _was_ that thing? Was Howard right, that creature was a human? How was that possible? Nothing Diana knew could explain that, how a human would just turn into a monster strong enough to fight an Amazon on equal grounds.

Before they could get any answer, however, the sound of a radio turning on cut the silence.

" _It should come as no surprise that a monster would be no challenge against a goddess, but I am still in awe of how easily it was for you to slay it, Diana._ "

Diana felt her skin crawl when she heard that voice and she looked at Steve almost immediately, meeting his blue eyes. She knew, when she heard the first word coming out of the radio, who was talking: Johan Schmidt, the Red Skull.

Ares, the God of War, himself.

Everybody was in silence, looking from her to the radio, waiting for her to say something. Slowly, Diana approached the radio, pressing the button so she could speak.

"I don't know what you heard, but I am not a goddess, I serve them," Diana said, her chest almost bursting with anxiety. "And in their name, I will end you, I give you my word."

The Lasso of Hestia was in her hands as she said that, her eyes fixed on the radio as if she could actually see him.

" _Ah, but what is a god if not a being that was bold enough to reach out and take power? And you have power, Diana, I have seen it._ "

"When?" Steve asked, getting by her side. "When we were beating HYDRA over and over again?"

" _The Good Captain, what an honor! It seems fate put us in the same path once again. First with Erskine, now with our Goddess."_

"I am not a goddess!" Diana yelled, furious. "And I'm certainly not anything of you!"

" _Perhaps not now, but in time we can achieve great things together, Diana. You have seen the horrors of this world, the weak men that dare stand in my path, worrying about squabbles among themselves instead of worrying about the war. You have seen the number of dead rising each day because of their stubbornness. What if I say we can end this? Together?_ "

"Are you surrendering?" Peggy asked, sarcastically.

" _No, Agent Carter, I am offering the world to someone who has the right to take it. I am giving it back to its rightful rulers, the gods."_

Diana's hand trembled with the need to smash the radio.

"You think you know what I am, who I am?" Diana asked. "You don't."

" _You are a young goddess, you still don't know who you are or what is you purpose, but I can show you. We can take this world, Diana, end all wars, return it to the paradise the gods once ruled. With the Tesseract in my power and you by my side there is no one capable of standing in our way!"_

"And you would rule a pile of ashes," Bucky said. "You are out of your mind, pal."

Schmidt ignored Bucky completely.

" _You have seen what I can do with but a drop of this power. Power to destroy, but also the power to create. What did you think of my 'Adam'? I agree it wasn't my best work, but this was just the first of many. Experiments tend to improve with trial and error._ "

"You did this?" Steve asked, in his rage pointing at the broken glass chamber as if Schmidt could see him. "You transformed a human into that… _Thing_?"

" _The power to destroy and the power to create, Captain America. The power of the gods."_

"You monster," Diana whispered. "Gods are meant to protect, not to harm! Gods are meant to stand for what is right!"

" _Gods are meant to rule, Diana, and in time you will learn that. We will meet again."_

The radio turned off. Screaming in rage, Diana punched it, her hand obliterating the whole thing.

"I swear, Steve, I will stop him! And I will make him pay!"

She was feeling angry as she never felt before, powerless as she never felt before. Diana knew that was the whole point of the conversation, the taunts, the provocation, but even so she couldn't help but to feel furious. Until she felt Steve's hand on her shoulder; she turned to look at him.

" _We_ will stop him," he said, looking into her eyes. "Together."

Diana didn't know if was the gentle touch or his voice, but she felt the anger leaving her, like poison being drained. She smiled at him, content to just feel his skin for a minute; then she sighed.

"I'm just frustrated by this whole thing," she finally said, looking down. "All this and for what? The only thing here was that monster and it's gone. We are not closer to know what HYDRA is planning than we were before."

"I wouldn't say that," Howard piped in; she could hear the smile in his voice. "I think we'll have a souvenir to take back to London after all."

Everybody turned to see what Howard was pointing at; there, in the middle of the destroyed lab, was the severed blue hand of the monster they just fought. Maybe things would work out in the end.

* * *

 **Hey guys, how are you doing? Sorry for the long delay, I've been extremely busy and it's hard to find the time to write, but I'm still here and I hope you like this new chapter! Tell me what you think about it, review, PM, favorite, follow… Thanks for everything!**


	14. Chapter 14 - Firsts Christmases

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 14 – Firsts Christmases: a Christmas Special**

 **London, SSR Headquarters – December 24** **th** **, 1944**

There was something in the air that Diana couldn't identify. An energy, some kind of electricity, maybe vitality itself, she didn't know, but the effect it had on people was incredible. Even in the middle of the war, even with all the battles they fought and would inevitably fight, the people in the SSR Headquarters were _happy_. As if nothing could faze them.

She smiled; it seemed that whatever this was, it was contagious.

"I don't understand, Steve," Diana said, as she watched him moving through the kitchen, extremely busy; it was the first time she saw him cooking something not made on a campfire. "What is the big deal about Christmas?"

That question made everyone in the kitchen stop and turn to her. Despite all her powers, she couldn't help but to feel a little bit intimidated. The Howling Commandos, all sitting around a table peeling all kinds of vegetables, stopped and looked at her; Steve, carrying a gigantic raw turkey covered in seasonings, froze in the middle of the kitchen, eyes on her; Peggy, busy making a complicated kind of pudding, also looked at her; even Howard, the only one doing absolutely nothing useful, stopped drinking eggnogs to gaze at her.

"What do you mean 'what's the big deal'?" Bucky asked, appalled, a half-peeled potato in his hands. "It's the best day of the year!"

"But why?" Diana insisted. "Because of the food? The decorations?"

"It's the birth of Christ!" Dugan exclaimed.

"Actually, it isn't," Howard pointed out, returning to his drinking. "Jesus wasn't born in December 25th. The date itself probably comes from the old roman winter solstice, adapted to fit the new celebration, Christmas, to better fit the newly converted. You know, so the change in religions would go smoothly." He took a sip and refilled his glass. "You can't just enforce a new religion and then change everything, expecting people to just go along with it. So they kept the dates from some old festivals and changed the names, created saints so people who worshiped lots of gods would feel more comfortable praying, stuff like that."

The gazes turned to Howard.

"What? I'm not the one questioning Christmas, she is! I love it! You should see how well Santa's clothes fits some of the models I met back home. Now, _that_ is what I call a good Christmas day!"

"Nobody cares, Howard!" Peggy complained, putting a plate full of unpeeled potatoes in front of him with force. "Now make yourself useful or you won't eat."

He grinned at her, thinking she was kidding, but something on her face made Howard quickly realize that she _would_ make him go hungry; he started to peel them, very unskillfully in Diana's opinion.

"So? Christmas?" Diana asked again, since her question went unanswered. "It's because of the religious aspect then?"

"To some," Steve answered, while he put the turkey in the oven. "Even if Christ wasn't really born during Christmas, that was the chosen day for people to celebrate it. Some go to churches to pray, to honor Jesus and his mother, Mary. Some volunteer to sing at the church, they read the bible with the children, cook homemade meals…"

He looked at her, smiling. She couldn't help but to smile back, even if she was still confused.

"But what does that overweight elderly man dressed in red has to do with this? And the tree, with the lights? And-and the reindeers, why do they fly?! Why one of them has a glowing nose?"

Steve's smile dimmed a bit.

"Yeah, what's Santa Claus's deal?" Bucky questioned, looking at Steve.

"I don't remember him from the bible," Dugan admitted. "Then again, it's not like I read it too many times either."

"He is a saint!" Jacques Dernier exclaimed. "Saint Nicholas! Jesus had him giving gifts to the poor back in the day, tell them Steve!"

All eyes were on Steve now and for some reason Diana thought he seemed to feel a little cornered.

"I-I… There is a… What I mean is, um, the-the…"

"Santa Claus is a legendary figure, Diana, he doesn't exist," Peggy explained, pulling her closer and putting her to work too, teaching her how to decorate the table with little green elves and miniature reindeers. "It's uncertain from where the belief of his existence comes from. Some say it's from Saint Nicholas, a man who used to hand gifts to the poor. Some say it comes from Father Christmas, a spirit that brought joy to people. And some even say it comes from the traditions of an older pagan festival, the Yule, when the Wild Hunt supposedly appeared in the sky, led by Odin himself. Probably all of those beliefs put together somehow contributed to the image we have today."

Diana listened entranced, her hands gluing little elves to the table almost mechanically.

"Santa Claus is a children's tale," Peggy summarized. "They believe that he comes during Christmas Eve and brings gifts to the well-behaved kids and coal to the ones who misbehave during the year. He has a workshop in North Pole, where he and his elves build toys for the children all year long and during Christmas Eve and Christmas day he flies through the sky in a sleigh pulled by reindeers, carrying a bag full of gifts to the children all over the world."

Her eyes were wide now and Diana wasn't even pretending to be working anymore.

"That makes no sense," she finally said, a thousand questions filling her mind. "How can he hand all those gifts in so little time? How does he carry that many gifts? How does he know which kids are good and which aren't? How –"

"He doesn't exist, Diana!" Peggy interrupted her, quite rudely in her opinion. "Don't try to find any sense in this because there isn't any. I realized that when I was four!"

Now everybody was looking at Peggy.

"You found out Santa Claus didn't exist when you were four?" Bucky asked, almost as if he pitied her. "Your poor kid!"

Bucky's expression was mirrored on all their faces, even Steve's, as if they couldn't bear the thought of a child going through such a thing.

"Oh, come on!" Peggy complained. "I can't be the only one who realized Santa wasn't real early on! It's a fat man flying in a sleigh pulled by reindeers, for Christ sake!"

"I realized that as a kid too," Howard mentioned; for the first time, Peggy seemed to mirror the Howling Commando's horror at the notion. "Hard not to, really. Either I was a really bad kid or Santa had something against poor children."

"You were poor?!" Bucky asked, baffled.

"Don't act so surprised, Sergeant Barnes, I wasn't born in a golden crib like some think. I _made_ my fortune. And Santa didn't have anything to do with that!" Howard refilled his glass. "Let me tell you, if Santa gave me coal I could at least sell it, but nooo… I guess we have that in common, huh?"

Diana looked at Bucky and Steve, expecting to see some frustration, but they were smiling.

"Not really, "Steve said, "my mother always left us something and told us it was from Santa. Never anything expansive, sometimes it was sweets or something like that, but she always made sure to give me and Bucky something in Christmas."

The way Steve said that made him look younger, almost a little boy remembering the good old times. That made Diana happy. It was easy to see how much that day meant to him; it wasn't just a festival full of gifts and food, it was also the good memories it brought back.

"You asked what Christmas is about, Diana," Steve continued, that warm smile still on his face. "It's about giving, it's about generosity, caring about others more than you care about yourself. It's to be together with family and friends and enjoy their company. To embrace the best we have to offer and spread it around. To do _good_."

Diana didn't know much about Christmas traditions, what to do or what to say, how to behave. But right now, surrounded by her friends, feeling a warmth inside herself, she thought she understood a little better what Christmas meant.

She liked it a lot.

There was a long silence after Steve's words, as everybody contemplated what he said. Quietly, all of them went back to their appointed tasks, working diligently, apparently fueled by Captain America's Christmas speech.

Or so she thought.

"So, to be clear," Dugan started, frowning, "we have been celebrating Jesus's birthday on the wrong the day for almost 1945 years? Am I the only one worried by that?"

By the tense silence that followed, apparently not. Diana tried to calm them.

"You shouldn't worry, Dugan. Birthdays lose their novelty after a while. In Themyscira we only celebrated mine for about a hundred years. I spent thousands of years barely remembering I had birthdays, so I don't think Jesus would mind this little lapse."

Diana smiled at Dugan, but her smile slowly disappeared once she realized that instead of seeing comfort on their faces she saw only absolute shock.

"What?"

* * *

 **Bay Lake** , **Florida, Disney World – December 24** **th** **, 1992**

Diana had never seen that many people in one place. It was absurd. There wasn't even a path to walk, they had to move with the crowd, like they were part of the gigantic wave of colors, lights and sounds. Everywhere she looked she could see people dressed as Disney characters, dancing and singing while children watched in awe.

It was more than the crowd and the sounds, though; the whole atmosphere seemed clacking with energy, electric, almost to the point of burning. Happiness, that's what it was, Diana realized, smiling, as she dragged Natalia with her. Just like she felt all those years ago on her first Christmas.

She had made the right call when she decided to take this trip with Natalia. Diana needed a few days off and Natalia needed to get out more, to meet a world where people weren't constantly trying to assassinate each other. Disney seemed to be a good place for that and Christmas Eve a good time.

Good food, music, dancing, fireworks and Christmassy spirit all intertwined with a place full of fun attractions and adorable characters from Disney. How could it go wrong?

Christmas was like a dream!

* * *

Christmas was a nightmare!

Natalia's skin was crawling. She couldn't imagine why would someone willingly subject themselves to that torture. There were so many people around her, bumping on each other, talking loudly about stupid things, _laughing_. The security concerns alone were making Natalia's head spin; anyone in that crowd could be an assassin and she would only know when it was too late. But worse than that was being in the middle of the crowd, visible to anyone who looked, unarmed.

And dressed as Snow White.

Rationally, Natalia knew she wasn't in any danger. Diana was holding her hand and she had seen what she was capable of. Even if people were out to hurt her, even if they knew who she was and for some reason would try a very public assassination, Diana would never let anything happen to her.

But that was a novelty to her, trusting someone. Especially when she had no chance to defend herself in that situation. It wasn't entirely bad, however, she had to admit. Even if she couldn't help herself in feeling a little tense, she knew with absolute certainty that Diana would keep her safe.

It was the only reason she allowed herself to be dragged to Disney World in Christmas Eve.

Still, trusting Diana and all, Natalia was nervous. Her version of nervous, of course, that made sure not a shred of emotion appeared on her face and that her mind was as focused as ever, but nervous nevertheless. This whole "have fun" thing? She didn't get it, at least not yet; Diana was sure that would change with time, but she wasn't that certain.

What was the point of watching adults wearing rats and ducks costumes dancing around? What was the point of listening to women dressed as princesses singing? Fireworks was something she didn't understand either, but that was probably because she already had seen her share of impressive explosions, so that show of controlled lights and bangs wouldn't impress her.

The kids around seemed impressed, though. About _every single little_ thing happening. Why? The dancing wasn't that well-choreographed, any girl from the Red Room could do better with not even a week to practice a number, their ballet training already ingrained in them. The songs, also, were simple, not polished enough to be even called a composition in her opinion. Maybe it was because of the costumes? Could that be it?

She looked down at her own costume, Snow White's blue and yellow dress, complete with a red hair bow that clashed horribly against her own red hair. Impractical, to say the least. Nothing like that Captain America's uniform she wanted to wear. Of course, it was a kid's costume, so it wasn't functional like the real one, but at least it had a mask and trousers, so she wouldn't trip over if she needed to run. But of course, that request had been denied, because apparently Captain America wasn't a Disney Princess; no one would wear something like that to go to Disney, Diana said.

Well, if that was true, was she imagining the plump little blond boy wearing a Captain America uniform while stuffing his face with Christmassy candies?

Natalia and Diana spotted the kid at the same time; she raised a single eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. She should already know Diana wouldn't give her the satisfaction. Instead of answering, Diana simply pulled her, delicately but forcefully, walking away from the plump boy and in the direction of a full congregation of costumed people.

"Look, it's Pluto!" Diana exclaimed, before basically tossing her in the middle of them.

She didn't even realize what was happening, before she was surrounded by a whole group of Disney characters that seemed to think her presence in the middle of them indicated she was a fan. They couldn't be more wrong, of course, but she didn't exactly have a chance to complain before the camera flashes began.

Somehow Diana would pay for that, Natalia vowed, as Pluto hugged her as if they were old friends.

* * *

Diana had a wide smile while she took as many pictures as she could, before Natalia inevitably escaped her fate. She couldn't remember a day she felt so giddy, seeing the serious little girl being hugged by someone wearing a giant yellow dog costume. Who knew Disney could be this fun? But she should rescue her now, before Pluto suffered a painful accident; she made sure to take enough pictures first, of course.

Moving forward, she reached for Natalia and pulled her again, removing her from the Pluto's hug, so they could start walking again. She took a minute to let Natalia get her bearings, helped her to get her hair right again, and then, without giving her a chance to disappear, they got back walking again.

They had an hour until midnight. According to the brochure they gave her at the entrance, there was a show scheduled at that exact moment and supposedly it would be the high point of the night. One of the biggest roller-coasters had been repurposed to make it look like Santa Claus's sleigh being pulled by reindeers. Santa Claus himself, or more likely a man hired to impersonate him — but Natalia didn't need to know that —, would be there with his elves for the ride, so all the kids could see him while he tossed presents from up there, stuck to little parachutes.

And exactly at midnight there would be a fireworks show.

She was pretty excited to see that and maybe Natalia would like it too, or so she hoped. Santa Claus flying through the sky, tossing gifts to the kids while bright fireworks exploded way above him. It should be amazing.

But first, before Santa Claus abandoned his post to go back to his sleigh, Diana wanted to take Natalia to meet him. _That_ would be fun to see.

* * *

Natalia, once again, had no words to explain her situation. She did some very weird things during her short life, things most people would never even dream of doing. Assassination, espionage, sabotage… She did all that and saw her "sisters" doing even worse, but she had never imagined, not once, that she would one day sit on Santa's lap.

Her life really took a weird turn when she tried to assassinate a goddess.

What was the protocol here? What was she supposed to do? Diana told her she had to tell Santa Claus what she wanted for Christmas, but it wasn't like she needed anything. Add that to the fact that she knew Santa Claus wasn't real, despite Diana's claims, and the man dressed in red was probably some unemployed elderly who happened to look like Santa and Natalia really wasn't in the mood to bare her soul to him.

Even if she wanted to tell him anything, that would require that he at least looked at her, which he hasn't. So far, since Diana lifted her and dropped her on his lap, the man hadn't taken his eyes from Diana, obviously mesmerized by her beauty. Natalia had met a lot of beautiful women in the Red Room. Beauty was a very useful tool, so the Red Room used it every occasion they could; Natalia herself had no doubt she would use that particular tool in the future, had she remained with them.

Diana, however, was in a whole other level. She wasn't just beautiful, she was, literally, a goddess. Even dressed simply, with a pair of jeans and a red long coat, Diana was easily the most gorgeous woman anyone in the park had ever or would ever see.

That did not mean Natalia liked when people ogled her adoptive mother like she was a piece of meat.

She was just trying to come to terms with the fact that Santa Claus of all people was doing that. Shouldn't he be a nice, gentle old man? Now that she was paying attention, though, that particular Santa Claus didn't seem to be that old. The long, white beard was fake, of course, but his face wasn't wrinkled and his hair was dyed white. And he wasn't that fat, he was in quite good shape in fact.

Natalia frowned; and then flicked his nose.

" _Ouch_! You little…" Santa began, finally taking his eyes from Diana to look at her. He stopped, took a long breath, and smiled, quite falsely in her opinion. "You little spitfire, you must drive your mother crazy!"

She didn't answer. Instead, she took the chance to hold his hand and pull it close to her face. He probably thought she was apologizing or some other nonsense, but Natalia was actually feeling his skin; it was calloused in familiar places, which added even more questions.

"So, what does a pretty little girl like you wants for Christmas?" Santa asked her.

Still not answering, Natalia discretely smelled his skin. The faint smell of chemicals reached her nose, one of them clearly of gunpowder. Still in silence, she turned his hand up, looking at his wrist: at the black tattoo she expected to see there. Finally, she looked up and smiled.

"You already gave me quite the present, Mr. Santa Claus," Natalia said, jumping from his lap before he had the chance to answer and going to Diana.

Diana was smiling widely at her, moving away from the packed line to meet her halfway.

"Did you like to meet Santa?" Diana almost sang to her, grinning brightly.

Natalia looked seriously at her.

"I have reason to believe Santa Claus is a terrorist."

Diana's smile vanished. "What?!"

* * *

 **London, SSR Headquarters – December 24** **th** **, 1944**

"So Steve just took the turkey and ran!" Bucky exclaimed, more than likely already a little drunk, making everybody laugh. "The thing was huge, it had to weight like 20 pounds and was wriggling the whole time! And-and Steve, "Bucky almost choked, laughing too much to talk normally, "he was a tiny kid, to he kept falling every three steps, but he _didn't let the turkey go even once_!"

Steve sighed and sipped his eggnog, wishing, not for the first time, that he could get drunk. Not that the story was bad or anything like that, but it _was_ a little embarrassing and Bucky was having just a bit too much fun telling it. No matter how much he wished, though, the Super-Soldier Serum just wouldn't allow it, so he just had to be strong.

Everyone else, Diana most of all it seemed, were having fun at least. That made him smile.

"Why the hell did you steal a turkey?!" Howard asked, looking at him. "And a living one at that!"

"That was the point, Howard, it was alive," Steve answered, remembering clearly how desperate he felt at the time with the wriggling turkey in his arms. "They would kill it!"

"Can you smell that?" Howard asked, tapping his nose. "That's the aroma of the turkey _you_ put in the oven!"

"It's different," Steve argued.

"How?!"

"It just is!" he exclaimed. "Look, I was a kid. And all I saw when I looked at the butcher shop was a scared animal who needed help, so I helped! That's it!"

"If turkeys didn't want to be eaten then they shouldn't be so delicious," Howard countered, sagely, as if that actually proved anything; Steve was shocked when he heard murmurs of agreement coming from the Howling Commandos.

Steve rubbed his forehead slowly.

"What did you do with it after you rescued it?" Diana asked, extremely interested in the ridiculous story.

"Well, I took it home, I thought I could hide it there," Steve answered. "But that plan was shot down pretty quickly."

"Tell me about it," Bucky muttered. "That little bastard left a trail of black feathers leading straight to Steve's house. Mr. Albertelli didn't need to hire a detective to solve that one."

"Not when you told him everything," Steve mumbled, still bothered by it after all these years.

"I'd like to see how long _you_ would've lasted when that old man got you by the ears!"

"What happened?" asked Peggy, eating cookies with Diana.

"He found Steve trying to hide the turkey in his room," Bucky laughed, " and that was that."

"He killed it?!" Diana exclaimed, horrified.

"What? Jesus, no! Mr. Albertelli was a tough, mean old man, but he wasn't crazy. And the sight of Steve's tears as he tried to shield the turkey from him probably helped the situation," Bucky laughed.

Steve blushed even redder when he saw Diana's suppressed little grin; everyone else practically falling down laughing wasn't helping things either.

"Did you use your vibranium shield to protect the turkey?" Howard asked, shaking uncontrollably. "Oh, my, if only we could print a recruitment poster with that picture, imagine how many loyal Americans would join the war effort!"

"What did the butcher do?" Peggy asked, trying not to snicker at Howard's joke. "Took it back?"

"That's what he wanted to do, but I knew if he did the turkey was as good as dead," Steve admitted. "And God knows mom didn't have the money to buy it and Mr. Albertelli knew that. So he did the next best thing that didn't involve calling the cops and becoming the laughing stock of Brooklyn: he gave me a job."

"You stole a turkey and he gave you a job?!" Jim Morita exclaimed. "In some places you would have lost a hand."

"True," Gabe Jones agreed.

"Where?" Diana asked, more curious than disturbed, Steve noticed.

"The point is, "Steve said, before the conversation went off on a tangent, "I got my first job and managed to save the turkey's life."

Steve smiled at them, satisfied with the happy ending of that story; of course Bucky didn't let it end like that.

"Tell them the turkey's name," Bucky said, bumping his shoulder.

He sighed tiredly, ignoring the eager looks of everyone.

"Ammon-Ra," Steve mumbled. Exactly like he expected, the entire room exploded in laughs and he, once again, blushed a bit. "I had read a book about Egyptian mythology a few days ago, it seemed like a good name."

That made them laugh even more, especially Bucky; to be fair, Diana just looked confused.

"What are you laughing about, Bucky? You wanted to name the turkey 'Hawkeye'!"

There was a second of silence; then everybody started laughing again, with the exception of Bucky, who was now a little red like Steve.

"Oh, Steve, that was a great story," Diana exclaimed, wiping tears of her face from laughing so much. "But why would you give the turkey the name of one of the greatest Egyptian deities? That's asking for trouble!"

Everybody turned to Diana, not really knowing what to say. Luckily, they didn't need to think of something, because Colonel Phillips arrived in the kitchen at that exact moment.

"So that's the source of all the noise," he grumbled, taking his hat off and sitting at the table. "At least you are not too drunk to cook it seems."

"You'll eat a turkey made by Captain America himself, Colonel Phillips," Howard said, raising his glass with a smile. "A special recipe named 'Roasted Ammon-Ra with gravy'!"

Steve would not punch Howard Stark during Christmas Eve, he repeated in his mind, maybe for the thousandth time.

* * *

 **Bay Lake** , **Florida, Disney World – December 24** **th** **, 1992**

"He is young, younger than any person usually hired to impersonate Santa Claus, especially in a place like Disneyland," Natalia began, looking at an increasingly shocked Diana. "His body shape is not one usually associated with Santa's either, he is considerably thinner. His hands are calloused in places consistent with the constant usage of firearms. There is a tattoo on his wrist, most likely associated with some gang or even the mob. And his hands smell like chemicals used to make explosives, so either Santa is also responsible for the fireworks , something unlikely to happen in such a big event, or he was touching something he shouldn't."

Diana's eyebrows went up at each word Natalia said, until they almost disappeared under her hair.

"The only plausible reason I can think of for a man like this to be here," Natalia continued, speaking with that emotionless voice of hers, "is to perform some kind of illegal activity, most likely a terrorist attack."

This couldn't be happening, Diana thought, still too shocked to move. Why did those things always happen to her?!

"Why… Why?" she whispered to herself, but Natalia understood it as a question to her.

"It is unlikely he is here to sell or buy some sort of illegal product," Natalia answered, as if she was saying something obvious. "No shipment of drugs or weapons would be easily transported inside the park, the risks are too big. It has to be a terrorist attack of some kind."

"That's not what I meant… You know what, forget it," Diana said, shaking her head. She looked back, seeing Santa Claus and trying to notice the same things Natalia did with her enhanced senses.

She didn't know what was worse: that Natalia was right about Santa Claus being a possible terrorist or that it happened just when she wanted a quiet time for them to have some fun.

At least being there they could do something about it, Diana sighed.

"Okay, Natalia, here is what we are going to do," she said, turning to Natalia. "We will–"

Natalia wasn't there anymore. At some point while she was focused analyzing the supposedly terrorist the kid had slipped into the crowd and disappeared from sight, probably in a self-appointed mission to assassinate Santa Claus.

Why was this happening?!

* * *

Natalia was going to kill Santa Claus even if it was the last thing she did! Of course, she knew it wasn't really Santa she was pursuing, but it was actually cooler when she imagined that. Christmas was supposed to be a day of dreams and fantasy, wasn't it?

She left Diana behind as she ran through the crowd, taking advantage of her small size to move faster. Diana would catch up soon enough, she knew, but at least in public she couldn't move using that unnatural speed of hers and she was too nice to just shove everybody out of her way, so she had a little time.

If Santa Claus truly was planning an attack it would happen during the night's main event, Natalia theorized. And according to what Diana said, the main event would be Santa Claus riding the repurposed rollercoaster and throwing presents to the children from up there, followed by a fireworks show, precisely at midnight.

There would be no better occasion to blow up a bomb. Maximum casualties guaranteed. He needed to be stopped.

Her eyes were fixed on her target the whole time as she moved fast between the people, following Santa Claus and his gang of elves as they left their post to go somewhere. They had 30 minutes until midnight, so right now they were most likely going to the place where the bomb was; she would meet them there.

Natalia's suspicions proved to be right when Santa entered the building that gave access to the rollercoaster. The bomb had to be there. The place was perfect; it was off-limits to non-authorized personnel, which guaranteed a level of secrecy, but with easy access to people and equipment. A bomb could easily be assembled there and no one would know until it was too late.

How would she get in? The front door was locked and obviously wasn't the best place to sneak in. She couldn't see another entrance anywhere, except a window that would probably take her to the second floor; that should work. The only problem was reaching it. Usually a leap like that would be child's play.

Of course, usually, she wouldn't be wearing that ridiculous Snow White's costume.

Climbing that wall wearing a dress wasn't impossible, but it was far from being ideal. And fighting in those clothes? Natalia was small, she had no chance to fight someone without agility. Again, she could do it, but it wouldn't be easy. If she had another set of clothes…

As if the universe was listening to her, the plump little kid wearing Captain America's uniform appeared in her line of sight.

Natalia's eyes met the boy's and he froze, his candy bar falling and sticking on the uniform; she grinned, not unlike a shark.

* * *

 **London, SSR Headquarters – December 24** **th** **, 1944**

Roasted turkey, goose, stuffed pork, all kinds of potatoes, grilled vegetables, gravy, bread… It wasn't a dinner, it was a feast, that filled the entire table with every kind of delicious thing Diana could imagined; it was the first time she saw something like that out of Themyscira.

And it was the first time she saw such a big meal disappear so quickly.

The beautiful table full of Christmassy dishes that Steve had set was disappearing with such speed that one would think some sorcery was at play; it was nothing magical though, Diana knew, only hungry soldiers and good food. It was a good combination, but a very fleeting one.

"My Christmases were always the same," Peggy said, filling her plate, her voice a tiny bit slurred from all the wine. "We would sit at the table, my mother would complain to me that I should be more 'lady-like', my brother would say something to make her stop and then we would eat."

"You look plenty 'lady-like' to me, Peg," Howard said, winking.

Peggy didn't consider that worthy of an answer.

"And then she would try to slip some more suggestions of how I should behave," Peggy continued, obviously still very much bothered by that. "Like 'you should've helped me cook!' or 'is that what you'll wear tonight?'. Why can't I wear trousers during Christmas? Huh? Why?!"

Nobody knew the answer to that question or, more likely, no one wanted to have that anger focused on them. Diana, however, didn't seem to understand the dangers involved yet.

"Trousers are really uncomfortable, though," Diana mentioned, absent-minded, eating some dried fruits. "I always preferred skirts."

"You had a choice, Diana!" Peggy exploded out of nowhere, startling her. "It's a matter of principle! Why should we be restricted to what we do or wear based on what we have between our legs?!"

Diana appeared to be thinking about an actual answer to Peggy's outburst.

"You are right," Diana admitted. "It would make a lot more sense if skirts were worn by men."

"Wait a minute," Bucky interjected, stopping to eat for a second, Howard and the Howling Commandos speaking alongside him; Steve just sighed.

"It would!" Diana insisted, looking at them. "Men need space and freshness, otherwise it can damage their reproduction capabili–"

"Okay, let me stop you right there, Miss Prince," Colonel Phillips interrupted. "I refuse to spend Christmas Eve talking about testicles, it's where I draw the line."

"But–"

"No 'buts', this is non-negotiable." Colonel Philips looked at Howard. "What about you, Stark? Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes spent their Christmases stealing turkeys, "both of them rolled their eyes, "and Agent Carter spent hers with family. What about you?"

Howard grabbed the bottle of rum and filled his glass.

"Well, that depends on the 'when'," he started. "Before I was the successful owner of a multibillionaire company we didn't really have a Christmas party. No money to buy the things needed, you see. But after?" Howard grinned and raised his glass as if making a toast. "Let me tell you, my friends, that those people who say money doesn't bring happiness are always those with their pockets full of cash. Dating movie stars, drinking champagne and eating like a king beats eating beans on Christmas, don't you forget that."

Diana considered the weirdly serious speech made by Howard, but before anyone could say anything Dugan asked:

"Do you really spend Christmases with movie stars?"

Howard opened a big smile.

"Oh, yes!"

The men, for some reason, had a faraway look on their eyes; Peggy rolled hers.

* * *

 **Bay Lake** , **Florida, Disney World – December 24** **th** **, 1992**

Natalia landed gracefully inside the building, her newly acquired shield in front of her. Now, this was a uniform she could endorse. It was a costume, of course, not bulletproof or even particularly resistant to damage, but it was very well made despite that; certainly better than Snow White's dress, that was for sure.

It was wasted on that boy, Natalia was right in putting it to better use.

Her eyes quickly examined the place, searching for signs of the bomb. The second floor of the building was empty, being used as a storage of some kind; Christmassy clothes, apparently, by the look of things. She could hear voices on the floor below, too far for her to discern what was being said, but enough to give her a direction.

If the men were in the first floor, the bomb probably was too.

Natalia's feet made no sound when she began to walk towards the stairs, the bright blue and red uniform shrouded in darkness as the moved. It wasn't a costume made to be stealthy, but Natalia's skills were enough to make her advance almost invisible; it was a shame though, to wear that uniform and hide.

She wasn't one to idolize people, never was, even before what she went through in the Red Room. Captain America, however, was someone she admired, especially after Diana told her all those stories from her past. Despite what the soviet government wanted their people to remember, Steve Rogers and the Howling Commandos were heroes there as well. One of the few memories she had of her father was he telling her a story about Captain America saving a Red Army troop from a HYDRA ambush.

Natalia wasn't stupid enough to think Captain America was a perfect hero, with no flaws and only good things to show like history remembered. Like Diana remembered. But he _was_ a hero. And he _was_ a good man, like few others could claim to be.

The Red Room forced her to do horrible things, things that sometimes still haunted her. Diana saved her before her ledger was dripping red, but she could still feel the bloodstains. If she could dress up like a hero for at least one day of the year, well, Christmas would be that day.

Tonight she wasn't the feared Black Widow; tonight she was the Star-Spangled Captain America. And Captain America didn't hide from the bad guys.

Natalia went down the stairs without any intention of remaining undetected, proudly displaying the stars of her new uniform. Her eyes were full of bravery, gazing from behind the blue mask, as she raised the shield on her left arm in front of her. She had no weapons, not even a knife, but she wasn't worried; at that moment, nothing could scare her.

There were five men in the room: Santa Claus and four elves dressed in green. They were speaking quickly in Russian, at the same time they prepared pistols and rifles on a table. There was no sign of the bomb. Natalia didn't know what was their plan here, but that didn't matter; it ended now. All of them immediately turned to look at her when the floor squeaked under her feet and for a second there was absolute silence.

They stared at her, too shocked to do anything, and Natalia stared back, stopping by the stairs.

"Hey, little girl, what are you doing here?" asked one of the elves, in a thick Russian accent, as all of them quickly tried to hide their guns behind them. "Are you lost?"

He began to approach her, the pistol clearly hidden behind him, trying to make everything look perfectly normal; she almost rolled her eyes. Just because she was a kid it didn't mean a soft voice and a smile would make her _not_ see the whole arsenal in the room. Were normal kids really that stupid?

"You are Captain America, yes?" the Russian elf said, giving her a creepy smile, stopping right in front of her. "How did you get here? Did someone let you enter?"

Natalia gave him an adorable smile in response, the very picture of innocence. And then, in a single move, she bashed her shield against the ground. Differently from the original, this shield wasn't made of vibranium, but of plastic, far from being indestructible. The hit broke the plastic in half, leaving only an uneven sharp edge on her arm.

A sharp edge Natalia stabbed between the elf's legs.

The Russian elf was in so much pain that he couldn't even scream. His mouth was opened in a silent shriek, his entire body tense with agony, as everybody in the room could only stare, too horrified and shocked to move. One down, four to go, Natalia thought, pulling the broken shield back, bringing with it a waterfall of blood.

Finally there was a scream, piercing and terrifying, when the Russian elf fell to his knees on a pool of his own blood; Natalia wasn't even listening. Instead of being paralyzed like the rest of the people in the room, she was already moving, reaching for the Russian's pistol. He probably didn't even notice the pistol wasn't in his hands anymore.

Not until Natalia put it against his chin and pulled the trigger.

The noise and the rain of blood and pieces of brain seemed to snap Santa Claus and the rest of his elves into action, but it was already too late. Natalia held the kneeled dead elf with one hand, not allowing his body to fall down, and using it as cover she fired; one, two, three times. Each bullet found its target, sinking between the elves eyes one after the other before they had the chance to move.

Santa Claus threw himself behind the table as the elves fell, shooting blindly in her direction; one of the bullets hit Natalia's "elven shield", luckily disappearing harmless into his back. Unfazed by it, Natalia fired back, but Santa Claus managed to run away; he moved fast for a supposedly fat, elderly man.

Throwing the elf down, Natalia followed him, snarling when she missed another good shot as Santa entered the corridor, running towards the exit. That couldn't happen; what would the children out there think? She rolled to avoid Santa's desperate shooting and aimed. This time she wouldn't miss, she thought.

She didn't take into account Diana's arm punching a hole through the wall and grabbing Santa's neck, before the rest of her body followed. Santa was lifted in the air, looking terrifying to her, and before he could recover enough to try to fire against her Diana tossed him down with force.

There were a few seconds of silence. Natalia looked at Diana; Diana looked at her; Santa Claus looked at the ceiling, dazed from the beating he'd suffered.

"Was all that really necessary?" Diana asked, stepping on Santa's hand when he tried to grab the pistol.

"They were armed," Natalia answered, shrugging. "The bomb is not here, though."

"I will never speak!" Santa Claus yelled, defiantly, trying to get Diana's foot from his hand; she rolled her eyes and grabbed his neck again, pushing him against the wall.

"Oh, you will!" Diana promised, grabbing the Lasso of Hestia from under her coat and tying him up so quickly he never had the chance to struggle.

She dropped him heavily on the floor like a hogtied pig.

"Where is the bomb?" Natalia asked.

Santa Claus fought bravely, but there was no resisting the power of that golden lasso; it was actually interesting to witness when it wasn't happening to her.

"I will n-never… ARGHHH! The rollercoaster!" he screamed, when the Lasso burned the truth out if him.

Diana looked extremely serious now. This man was threatening the lives of innocents, children's lives. That was something she knew Diana would not forgive.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Yuri Travn–"

"I don't care about your name, I want to know who you are," Diana interrupted. "Who do you work for, what do you expect to accomplish here? Why would you do such a thing?"

The man laughed; that was the wrong thing to do. Diana punched him and by the sound her fist probably felt like a hammer. Santa spit out a tooth, dizzy, and before he could regain his bearings the lasso compelled him to speak.

"We wanted to show that the war was not over," he admitted. "That the USSR haven't lost. To give our people hope to keep fighting!"

"By killing children?!" Diana snarled. "On Christmas? To ignite a war that, thank the gods, is already over?!" She looked around. "Let me guess, your plan was so stupid that you are the only ones involved?"

The man tried not to answer, but finally spat: "Yes! No one else wanted to do this."

Natalia approached, pointing the gun at him, even knowing it wasn't necessary.

"When will the bomb explode? And how do we disarm it?" Natalia asked.

Santa Claus started to laugh again; that couldn't be a good sign.

"It can't be disarmed!" he answered. "Things are already happening and at midnight these people will have a Christmas they'll never forget!"

She couldn't put into words how disastrous that would be. Not only thousands of innocent people would die, children mostly, but an attack like this could very well achieve what the man wanted: reignite the Cold War. And this time it might even escalate to nuclear war.

Liking or not, Christmas was proving to be an interesting holiday.

* * *

Diana stared at the bloodied man dressed as Santa Claus for a moment, feeling her body burning with rage. How could someone want to start a war that lasted almost half a century again? How could someone want to escalate things, to the point the entire world was at risk of being consumed in nuclear fire? How could someone sacrifice children's lives for that?

She tried to keep a positive outlook in life since her breakthrough in Siberia, but sometimes it was difficult. At least she could find solace in the fact that so few people were involved in that.

And in the fact that they were stopped by Natalia.

Without asking, Diana twisted the man's arm, ignoring his yelp of pain, and stole his watch. 11:49. They had eleven minutes until the bomb detonated, killing thousands of innocents and possibly starting over the war that would eventually destroy the world.

Christmas was not going according to her plans.

"We have eleven minutes to deal with the bomb," Diana said, frowning when the watch changed to 11:50. "Ten minutes."

"It can't be stopped, you–"

The brutal kick Diana unleashed against his face made sure she wouldn't have to kill him for saying something he shouldn't. Natalia watched the man fall with a small smile.

"How are we stopping it?" Natalia asked, looking at her.

Diana took a long breath, lifting Santa Claus on her back and turning to the door.

"I'll think of something. Do me a favor, though, make a distraction so my pictures don't fill the newspapers tomorrow."

Natalia's grin didn't exactly make her relaxed.

* * *

Diana was already running towards the rollercoaster, Santa passed out on her back, moving too fast to be spotted. She could already see the rollercoaster and the people moving in its direction for the night's main event; without stopping for a second, she jumped to the rooftop of one of the buildings and continued her path, this time without the obstruction of hundreds of people.

Natalia had to work fast, otherwise the world would see a very interesting sight this night; Peggy would never let her forget this.

As if Natalia could hear her, there was a sudden power surge in the park. For a few seconds everything was pitch black and everybody but her stopped to move; Diana had no idea how Natalia arranged that, but she wasn't complaining. And then, just as suddenly, a single building was lit up, glowing bright in Christmassy colors, drawing everybody's gaze to it.

To the opposite direction of the rollercoaster carrying the bomb.

It was a long time since Diana had any kind of backup, but it wasn't bad to have someone watching her back; it was weird, though, that her backup was a little girl, but then again, she couldn't exactly brag about being normal either. She would have a talk with Natalia however, about where she found that Captain America's costume.

Shaking her head to try to concentrate, Diana finally arrived at the rollercoaster, dropping Santa without ceremony on the floor and taking a moment to look at it. It was still dark, but that wasn't enough to hinder her vision. They did a really good job with it, she admitted, looking at the carts shaped like sleighs being pulled by the reindeers. The whole thing was decorated with Christmassy characters, fake snow, bright colors and pine trees; it would truly be a sight to see when it was illuminated.

If it wasn't for the huge bomb on it, of course.

She glanced at the watch; 11:57. Three minutes to find the bomb and… And what? Diana didn't have a clue how to disarm a bomb even if it was possible to disarm it. Diana wasn't exactly sure what she would do, but first she needed to find the bomb. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, trying to listen for the bomb's mechanism.

What she heard, however, was the rollercoaster turning on.

The bright lights glowed in the night and the carts started to move, their wheels clanking against the rails. That wasn't good, that wasn't good at all. A loud Christmas song began blaring through the park, followed by Santa's "HO HO HO", and then the reindeer's carts lit up, pulling the sleighs where Santa Claus and his elves were supposed to be.

Santa was passed out, however, and his elves were dead; in their place was just a bomb armed to kill everybody around.

This was a disaster. Natalia's distraction was ruined, everybody in Disney was there, watching the show and she had less than three minutes to deal with the situation. Diana sighed, looking down. How was she supposed to keep her secret identity now? She looked to the crowd, knowing there was no way for them not to see her. Right now, however, there was no choice, even if it meant revealing her existence to the world.

When she prepared to jump to the carts, however, something occurred to her. A woman doing super-human stuff was newsworthy; Santa Claus jumping around during a Christmas show in Disney wasn't. Thinking fast, Diana untied Santa and stole his red clothes. She used her coat to stuff her stomach, and put on the costume; it would never fool anyone that wasn't blind, but from a distance? She hoped it would.

And with that still in mind, she jumped, almost flying to the sky; the watch was showing 11:59 in red numbers.

Diana landed on one of the carts, immediately making the crowd of children yell excitedly.

"IT'S SANTA!" they screamed and Diana couldn't help but smile.

The carts were moving up, shaking, the presents inside of them making it annoying to progress, but her natural balance made it easy for her to quickly start to jump from cart to cart, ignoring the fact that they were almost moving vertically now. And at each jump the children down there went crazy, yelling nonstop, laughing; that was a first for her.

Diana reached the first cart right at the moment it stabilized horizontally and there it was: the huge, spherical shaped, bomb. With a very ominous countdown on its surface. 5 seconds to explode. She looked down, seeing all those happy families, overjoyed with Christmas.

And without hesitating, Diana grabbed the bomb and threw it to the clouds with all her strength. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

 _BOOOOOM!_

The sky was lit up completely, making the night turn into day for a moment. Everybody turned their faces to avoid the light and the whole park actually shook, as if an earthquake just hit them. The carts from the rollercoaster were stopped at its highest point, not because of the bomb, but because it was apparently part of the show, so everybody could see Santa Claus.

For a second there Diana just looked down, wondering if people actually noticed something was wrong; then the fireworks began to blow up in the sky as well. Anyone should be able tell that the first explosion was quite different than those, but apparently nobody did. Once again people were cheering happily, even more than they were before because now there were presents falling from the rollercoaster too, all strapped to little parachutes.

00:00. It was finally Christmas. She needed to find Natalia.

* * *

 **London, SSR Headquarters – December 25** **th** **, 1944**

"Everyone, please, I'd like to make a toast!" Steve said, taping his glass with his spoon to call their attention.

He looked at the people sitting at the table. The most important people in his life. There were the Howling Commandos: Dum Dum Dugan, Jim Morita, Jacques Dernier, Gabe Jones, Pinkerton. Bucky, of course, also part of the Howling Commandos, his brother in all but blood. Colonel Phillips, his commander, a man he greatly respected and grew to like too. Howard Stark, someone he'd never imagined he would even meet, much less like, but who was now one of his best friends. Peggy Carter, the only person who had never lost faith in him, even when he had, someone Steve saw almost as family.

And, of course, Diana, the woman he loved.

Steve never imagined his life would turn out like that. That one day he would be a hero, loved by the people. That he would fight the war side by side with Bucky and his friends. That he would earn the respect of Colonel Phillips and help him to face HYDRA. That he would meet someone like Peggy, who would be there with him each step of the way. That he would ever love someone as much as he loved Diana.

It was a life full of hardships, of pain and loss, of battles; but he wouldn't change a single thing in it.

"I know you are all eating and having fun and I'm sorry for interrupting," Steve smiled when they all agreed immediately, "but I just want to say a few words."

He looked at each person sitting at the table, holding his gaze for a few seconds.

"First, I'd like to say that I'm proud of you. I'm proud of having you at my side. I'm proud of _knowing_ you. But you are more than just my brother-in-arms, you are my friends. My family. And it's an honor for me to be here, on Christmas, with all of you."

The joking stopped and the smiles slowly disappeared from their faces, as each one of them heard Steve's words, realizing how serious he was. They looked back at him, sitting straighter on their chairs.

"I know I'm boring you, so I'll cut this short," Steve said, raising his glass. "To you!"

They all stood up, glasses also raised.

"To you, Cap!" Bucky said, all the Howling Commandos saying the same.

"To you, Captain Rogers," Colonel Phillips said.

"To you, Steve," Peggy said.

Diana just looked at him in silence, her eyes conveying a thousand words; respect, friendship, admiration… Love. He almost got lost in that gaze.

"Merry Christmas!"

* * *

Diana was having the best day of her life. The food was delicious, she was among friends and at least for a few moments they could all be happy and silly, pretending that there wasn't a war happening. For the first time since leaving Themyscira, Diana wasn't filled with homesickness. She felt… Comfortable. Happy. Surrounded by family.

It was easy to see that everybody felt the same, especially after Steve's toast.

They were all talking, making jokes, laughing. The empty bottles of wine and beer almost took the entire table, most of them finished by Howard, making the words flow even more easily. The dessert dishes were pretty much finished by this point, but no one wanted to call it a night.

No one wanted to leave that room and go back to the war.

"Diana," Steve called, gesturing for her to follow him.

Puzzled, Diana got up and followed Steve outside, to the empty room on the side. Steve looked a little nervous for some reason, it was funny to see, so she just waited for him to say something with a little smile on her face.

"Enjoying seeing me being awkward?" Steve finally asked, realizing why she hadn't said anything.

"Very much, yes," she answered immediately.

He rolled his eyes and showed her something he had been hiding behind him. It was a black notebook, an old one by the looks of it; it had Steve's name inscribed on the cover.

"There is another Christmas tradition I didn't tell you," Steve began, still incredibly awkward, looking to his feet. "Presents. We sometimes give presents to the people we like, to family. We wrap it up and leave it at the Christmas tree, but…"

Diana's eyes fell to the notebook he was holding; was this a present?

"I, um, I got you something," Steve said. "It's nothing expansive and I didn't have the time to wrap it up–"

Before he could say anything else, Diana took the notebook from his hands, carefully, but quickly, so Steve wouldn't apologize again. Looking at him as if asking permission, she opened it.

Any words Diana had to answer simply disappeared when she saw the first page.

It was a drawing, no doubt made by Steve himself, simplistic and yet very well done. It wasn't the technique that made Diana silent, however, it was the drawing itself: because, for the first time in months, Diana was looking at Themyscira.

The beaches, the temples and statues, her sisters riding horses while training… Her home. Each page had a new drawing, a piece of Themyscira, a memory Steve immortalized in the form of art. And, finally, on the last page, there was a drawing of her. Her face, almost as if she was looking towards something.

"The moment I opened my eyes for the first time in Themyscira," Steve explained, his voice almost a whisper. "I thought I was looking at an angel."

Diana raised her eyes to look at Steve, her chest almost bursting with emotion.

"Steve, I–"

"It's not very well done, I know, but–"

Whatever he would say was interrupted by a kiss. Diana's arms pulled Steve closer and her lips met; for a moment, the entire world disappeared around them. There was only her and him, Steve and Diana, two people in love.

They lost any concept of time, but finally they stopped, their eyes still gazing at each other; Steve pulled her even closer and they touched their foreheads.

"Merry Christmas, Steve."

"Merry Christmas, Diana."

* * *

 **Bay Lake** , **Florida, Disney World – December 25** **th** **, 1992**

Diana watched the fireworks coloring the sky, sitting on the top of one of the park's closed rides. She gazed at the night sky, barely seeing it, no matter how beautiful the show was. Instead, she was looking backwards in time, to her first Christmas.

The first and the last she had with Steve.

It had been a long time since she could think about that day without feeling any sadness. Today, though, thinking back brought her happiness. All those people, her friends, her _family_ , Steve… Christmas was the one day when she could recall each and everyone of them without thinking about the war. Without thinking about what happened later.

The relief to be able to remember all that without feeling any of the pain was so great that Diana felt as she was taking the first breath after a long time underwater.

"Apparently a whole new generation of children will now believe Santa Claus is capable of flight without his sleigh," Diana heard Natalia saying, as she approached. "How do you feel, shaping the culture of the generations to come?"

Diana smiled, turning to see Natalia climbing the very tall place without any semblance of fear. She walked on the edge, her little arms open for balance, and sat by her side.

"I'm sure you are exaggerating," Diana answered.

Natalia offered her a little smile. "A little, but not much. The kids were really impressed by what 'Santa Claus' did. Disney's personnel even more so."

"Did they find Santa and his elves already?"

"They already called the police, but it's all being dealt with very quietly. No one wants to hear that people died in a children's park," Natalia said. She hesitated for a second, then added: "We should've killed Santa Claus too."

Perhaps she was expecting a denial, because she was surprised when Diana nodded.

"I agree," she said. "But at least alive he could be used as proof that Russia had nothing to do with this, in case we weren't capable of stopping him. A lot of people would've died, but at least there wouldn't be a war."

Sheer pragmatism kept that despicable man alive, that was the long and short of it. Natalia seemed to accept that answer. Something important occurred to Diana, however; she turned to Natalia, eyeing her carefully.

"You do know that the man they arrested is not the real Santa, right?" she asked.

Natalia rolled her eyes.

"Diana, I know–"

"Because the real Santa Claus is delivering presents right now," she continued. "Maybe he already passed through our home and left something under the tree for you. It could be, I don't know, the schematics he and his elves developed in their workshop in North Pole, for that idea you had. Do you remember? The one that used the Amazon steel of the Bracelets of Submission as a conduit to enhance an electrical discharge."

The little red-haired girl widened her eyes.

"Did you, I mean, do you think he figured out a way?" she asked, almost whispering.

"I'm sure he has contacts out there to ask for opinions," Diana shrugged. "And maybe, if you were a good girl this year, Santa also brought you that new Walther PPK you wanted."

She opened a big smile; ironically, when they were talking about guns, Natalia truly looked like the kid she was.

"Was I a good girl?" she asked.

Diana tried to contain her own smile, but she probably didn't do a very good job at it, because Natalia's eyes glowed with happiness.

"I guess we'll see," Diana said, giving her a look. "You know, what you did before midnight also counts. Where did you get this Captain America costume, Natalia?"

Maybe for the first time since they met, Natalia blushed; it wasn't very noticeable, unless you had godly eyes, but it was there.

"I found it," she answered, not looking at Diana.

"Natalia! I can see the stains from the candy bar that boy was eating!"

"Alright, I stole it!" Natalia admitted. She looked down again. "I'll give it back."

"And apologize to him."

"Fine!"

There was a minute of silence.

"And Peggy can never hear about this," Diana added.

Natalia had a small smile again. "Now who is the bad girl?"

"Oh, shut it," Diana answered, pulling Natalia closer to her and kissing the top of her head. "Merry Christmas, Nat."

Natalia got even closer to her.

"Merry Christmas, Diana."

* * *

 **Merry Christmas, everybody! Special chapter today, for an special day. I hope you have fun reading it and I hope all of you have a great Christmas and a great New Year!**


	15. Chapter 15 - Inner Demons

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 15 – Inner Demons**

 **Afghanistan – February 14th, 2010**

He woke up startled, the sounds of screaming still ringing loud in his ears. For a second, Tony Stark didn't understand what was happening, where he was, why was he feeling so much pain. Then, quick as his mind always was, the memories started to come back to him. The Jericho Missile test, the army convoy being attacked, all those people dying.

One of his own missiles blowing up next to him.

Something was blocking his nose. Still dizzy, his mind barely comprehending what was actually happening, Tony found the plastic catheter stuck into his nose and started pulling it out, something that proved to be incredibly uncomfortable. His entire body was uncomfortable, like he had been trampled by something big and violent, especially his chest. It was easy to notice, however, that he was still drugged, because the pain, while there, wasn't unbearable.

He needed water.

Coughing, he tried to reach the bottle by the side of his bed, but his arm just wasn't behaving like it should, either because of the drugs or because he was without moving for too long. The extreme cold probably didn't help matters. Tony almost cursed when the cup fell down, but before he could he froze.

There was a man in the same room.

The man had his back turned to him and was shaving himself, using a very small, very dirty mirror. Who the hell was this guy? One of his captors? But since he was inside the same cell/cave he was, there was a good chance he was a prisoner, just like him. Still, it was better not to take any chances.

Very carefully, Tony began to move out of the bed, hoping the bed wouldn't squeak. But at the moment he tried to get up, something pulled him back; something strapped to his body.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the man said, clearly hearing him move.

Tony was too busy to answer, turning to see what exactly was strapped to him. He followed the wires to the other side of his bed, finding a big car battery over a small table; his eyes widened and his heart began to beat fast. Desperately, Tony began to rip the bandages around his chest, his eyes following the battery wires to under them.

There was something hard in his chest.

Horror didn't begin to convey what Tony felt when he saw the circular piece of metal _inside_ his chest, connected to the battery wires, sticking out of his ribs like someone had impaled him with it. He looked up, eyes wide, feeling despair like he had never felt before. What had they done to him?

The man finish shaving and walked to a small stove close to his bed, barely giving any attention to him, more concerned in cooking his beans than anything else. Then, he looked at Tony, extending his arm to give him something; the small mirror he used to shave.

Tony took the mirror with trembling hands and sat down, carefully, feeling nauseous at the very thought of that thing buried inside his chest. The last thing he wanted to do was look at it, to see what horror they had done to him, but it wasn't like it would just go away if he wished really hard. So he lifted the mirror and looked at its reflection.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Tony whispered, his voice full of emotion.

The man, still stirring his beans, smiled. He was an older man, with greying hair, a small goatee and round glasses. He was wearing a suit, but the thing was probably what he was wearing for months, given how torn and dusty it was. Of course, he couldn't say much, because he was wearing something a hobo in New York would think twice about taking.

"What I did?" the man repeated, chuckling. "What I did is to save your life." Tony looked at the wires strapped to his chest and to the man, skeptic, but the man continued. "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there is a lot left and it's headed into your atrial septum. Here, want to see?"

He stopped cooking for a second, reaching for a small flask full of metal shrapnel; he tossed it to Tony.

"Have a souvenir, take a look," he joked; Tony was not amused, but he studied the little flask. "I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the 'walking dead', because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs."

"What is this?" Tony interrupted, not in the mood for stories.

"That is an electromagnet," the man answered, "hooked up to a car battery and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart."

Tony looked at the electromagnet keeping him alive for one last time, closing his jacket. Well, wasn't that just perfect? He was slowly being killed by a weapon that he had designed. Not able to find anything funny about the irony, Tony looked around, hoping to find something that would give him a clue about where he was. It was a cave, like he already knew, exactly equal to a million others in Afghanistan; if he was still there. It was dark, cold and, more importantly, locked by a big steel door. It also had a camera.

"That's right," the man said, noticing he saw the camera. "Smile!" He looked at Tony again. "We met once, you know. At a technical conference in Bern."

"I don't remember," Tony said, not thrilled to have a conversation at the moment.

The man either didn't notice or didn't care.

"No, you wouldn't," he laughed. "If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."

"Where are we?" Tony asked, not caring one bit about his story.

He opened his mouth to answer, but there was a knock on the door that made both of them jump; a voice yelled something in a language Tony didn't understand.

"Come on, stand up," the man said, suddenly very serious and agitated. "Stand up!" Tony did as he asked, confused, and the man grabbed him by the arm. "Just do as I do. Como on, put your hands up!"

Tony raised his arms and the doors opened. Three men appeared first, walking inside the room, holding weapons pointed out them; behind them, more followed, all armed. Except for the man in the middle, who seemed to be in charge.

"Those are my guns!" Tony suddenly noticed, whispering to the man at his side. "How did they get my guns?"

"Do you understand me?" the man said in response, frightened. "Do as I do!"

One of his captors, the man in charge, opened his arms with a smile, as if greeting him. He said something unintelligible, a long speech of which he just understood two words: Tony Stark.

"He says 'Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America'," the man by his side translated, before turning to his captor who was speaking again. "He is honored," he translated again. "He wants you to build the missile. The Jericho missile that you demonstrated." The kidnapper passed a picture to him. "This one."

Tony Stark looked deeply into his captor's eyes.

"I refuse."

It really wasn't the best answer he could've given.

* * *

 **Afghanistan – February 14th, 2010**

Natasha watched the desert passing quickly under the Quinjet, as Diana flew them to the place where Stark had been kidnapped. They were high up in the sky, flying fast as only a Quinjet could, completely hidden under the cloaking technology; which was probably the reason no one had fired at them yet.

She had doubts if they would find anything. Diana had super-human senses, but even she had limits and the "crime scene" had already been meddled with. Plus, they were in a desert; sand wasn't exactly the best type of terrain they could wish for. It had the annoying tendency of moving and taking with it any evidence they might find useful.

Still, it had to be done. If they didn't find actual clues down there, they would most likely end up finding people.

"How was Howard Stark?" Natasha asked, suddenly, voicing a question she wanted to ask for a long time now.

Diana looked at her. "Howard?" she smiled. "A lot like his son, if stories about Tony are true."

A drunk, irresponsible, and yet a genius, womanizer. Natasha nodded, looking down again. If that was the case, how exactly was Diana friends with him?

"Why was he your friend, then?" Natasha asked, truly curious. "He doesn't strike me as someone you would willingly get along with."

He truly wasn't, Natasha thought. A man like that wouldn't have lasted ten seconds in a room with Diana without trying to make a pass or saying something stupid. A man like that wouldn't take anything serious and Diana was one of the most responsible people she knew. A man like that, who built weapons for a living, wouldn't possibly comprehended Diana's kindness towards life.

"Because he wasn't _just_ that," Diana answered after a while. "As I am sure Tony isn't. Howard was a drunkard, a womanizer and he could be terribly irresponsible, that's all true. But he also was kind, brave and a true friend when the occasion demanded." She smiled at Natasha. "When we needed him, he rose up to the challenge. He became better than he was."

"And you think Tony Stark is the same?" Natasha asked, doubting it.

"I _know_ he can be," Diana replied, absolutely sure.

"Why?" Natasha asked. "What could possibly have given that idea to you?"

"Because I felt the same way when I was with Howard."

Natasha sighed. That answered nothing. A feeling wasn't something she could debate, after all.

"What's the problem, Natalia?" Diana asked, kindly.

"I just… I just don't want you to be disappointed," she answered, slowly. "When we find him, when you rescue him… I don't want you to expect another 'Howard Stark'. I don't want you to be blinded by nostalgia to someone who can, and will be, a risk."

That was the bottom of line. Tony Stark wasn't his father, he wasn't Diana's old friend. And the last thing they needed was for Diana to forget that and share her secrets with the man, because Natasha was sure that if she ever did, the drunken idiot would betray her trust in the next minute. And shit would hit the fan in a way none of them would be able to do anything about it.

They needed to rescue Stark, it was a matter of global security, but if Natasha never had to look at the man again it would be perfect.

She was so focused on her thoughts that she almost missed Diana's little smile.

"You know, Natalia, you don't have to be jealous," she said, and Natasha almost choked on air itself. "You'll always be my favorite, no matter what."

Natasha opened her mouth to reply that this answer had nothing to do with anything, but looking at Diana's small smile the thought better; anything she said could and would be used against her, so it was best to remain in silence.

"We are almost there, it's behind those mountains," she said, changing the subject.

The warm feeling she had inside her chest, however, remained there.

* * *

 **London – March 29** **th** **, 1944**

Peggy attacked Diana with a series of punches and kicks, twisting her body in a perfect stance to deliver each blow with strength and precision; and yet, none of them got even close to hit the Amazon. Diana seemed to dance between her fists and feet, dodging with such grace that she seemed to be dancing instead of fighting.

It wasn't making Peggy's healthy ego any good.

Before she could try to adjust her strategy, to think of something, Diana kicked her leg and dropped her on the cushioned floor of the SSR's HQ training room. Peggy landed on her back, painfully aware of her own weight at the moment, and when she tried to move she felt Diana twisting her arm behind her back, as the Amazon leg wrapped itself against her neck and pulled her to the ground.

Now it was over, Peggy thought, tapping the ground.

Diana immediately let her go, helping her to get up, a bright smile on her face; Peggy would've punched her, if she thought for a second that she would actually hit something. Not only Diana had won, for the 17th consecutive time, she looked completely rested. No hard breathing, no sweat, no bruises; in fact, she could show up at any party in the world, wearing her workout clothes, and still be the most beautiful woman in the room.

She, on the other hand, was a mess. Peggy could feel her muscles protesting, she was drenched in sweat, her hair looked like a bird's nest and she was pretty sure she had ripped her clothes at some point.

"That was better!" Diana exclaimed, completely unaware of Peggy's murderous thoughts. "But you are still relying too much on speed and strength."

"If I don't rely on speed and strength, it's best to just use my gun!" Peggy retorted, her bad mood showing.

Diana didn't seem to mind one bit. "Not true. Peggy, I'm stronger than you."

"You don't say…"

"But I'm not the only one you'll face that will be stronger than you," Diana continued. "You are a woman, your body is naturally weaker than a man's. It's just biology. You can lift weights everyday for the rest of your life and that is unlikely to change." She approached Peggy, touching her delicately. "There are, however, certain points on a person's body that don't require too much strength to be hurt."

Diana's fingers touched her face. "Temple, eyes, nose, throat," she took her hands down. "Groin, knees, ankles."

She looked into Peggy's eyes.

"Focus your attacks on those points and no matter how big your adversary is, he will fall. Use a small blade, your own hands and feet, unassuming weapons that if used right can cause more damage than you can imagine."

Peggy ignored her frustration for a second and truly listened to Diana, knowing she was right. If anyone there was an authority in combat, it was her.

"If you and the rest of the Amazons are so strong," Peggy asked, breathing hard, "how did you learn this? You don't exactly need those tips to fight someone."

Diana smiled, content she was listening apparently. "Well, when the Amazons fought men, you are right, there was no need. But they also fought gods, demigods and monsters on occasion, all much stronger than an Amazon."

Okay, that answer wasn't exactly what Peggy wanted to hear; she didn't need to be able to fight a minotaur, after all, even if they existed. Before she could say anything, however, Howard Stark interrupted them again.

"I really enjoyed this a lot more when you two were practicing wrestling moves," he piped up. "I don't know, something about the two of you holding each other so close together brought a tear of happiness to my eyes."

Yes, "eyes", that was the body part affected.

"Why don't you go back to your lab, Stark, and let us practice in peace?" Peggy asked, turning to see the man sitting on a chair on the corner of the room; he had piles of documents with him. "That way you can continue your job in finding out just what that blue monster was and we can go on without your leering."

"Leering… That is what I gain for my undying interest in martial arts," Howard answered, as if hurt by her words.

"If you like, I can teach you too," Diana offered, smiling innocently.

She almost stopped Diana, but didn't when she noticed that something in her eyes was far away from innocent; Howard probably noticed that the suffering he would endure wouldn't compensate for his happiness in being able to practice wrestling with Diana.

"I would, Princess, but like Peggy said, I am busy," he said, opening another thick journal. "The tests I made are complete, but I still need to find a correlation between… Oh, that is not good."

Something in the way he said those words made Peggy fill with dread; there was no trace of his usual playfulness.

"I think we should call Colonel Phillips and Cap."

* * *

"Did you find out something?" Colonel Phillips asked, entering Howard's lab with Steve.

Diana was already there, by Peggy's side, watching the blue hand she had severed from that HYDRA monster float inside a glass. She turned to smile at Steve, receiving a smile back, but both of them were too worried about Howard's discovery and it was noticeable.

"I did find out something," Howard answered, nodding, looking more anxious than she had ever seen. He flipped some pages of a journal and put it down, pointing at the giant blue hand. "As you all know, I determined that this hand belonged to a human. A changed human, of course, but it started that way. Something transformed it into that huge blue monster you fought and I wanted to find out what."

Howard grabbed a bunch of pages and lifted them, so they could see.

"I took samples, I measured the energy it was emitted, I looked for diseases and any drugs that could mutate someone like this," he continued. "Now, this page shows the results of the tests I conducted on this severed hand."

He pointed to one of the pages.

"And this other one, are the results I conducted on Steve's blood."

Howard put the pages down, side by side; Diana and everybody else had their eyes wide.

"They are almost the same," Howard finally said. "There are differences, but what changed that creature into this was a version of the Super-Soldier Serum."

Nobody said anything. They could just stare at Howard, the hand, the lab results… and Steve.

"How is that possible?" Colonel Phillips asked, after a while. "They don't know the formula."

"No, they don't, which is why that thing was a mutated mess and Steve isn't," Howard answered. "But the similarities are there. They _are_ clearly working on it. It might not be perfect, _yet_ , but they are getting somewhere."

"But to change a human into this…" Steve began, still not able to remove his eyes from the hand. "It's one thing for someone to die or to end up like Schmidt, but _this_?"

"Well, that's where our methods differed," Howard explained. "You see, Erskine's formula wasn't enough. It was too unstable, too harmful and that's why the Red Skull ended up with that catchy nickname." He pointed at Steve. "Now, with you, Erskine and I tried something different. We needed something to stabilize the serum, to make it less harmful, to contain the mutations. You see, the Super-Soldier Serum changed you on a molecular level, but the change by itself wasn't the impressive part. The impressive part was stopping them just at the right moment when you were at your peak, before it started to damage you instead."

Howard was walking behind his desk, too excited to remain in one place.

"We needed a stabilizing agent, something to rein in the changes, so you wouldn't end up crazy and burned like Schmidt," Howard continued. "We thought that Wakandan herb was a good place to start, but, like I said, we weren't able to acquire it and I doubt Schmidt was too. So we turned to my research, the Vita Rays. And it worked, you were a successful case."

"Couldn't they use it as well?" Diana asked.

"Not as easy as it sounds, Princess," Howard answered. "I spent _a lot_ of time researching this and I needed Erskine expertise to make it work. Could Schmidt scientists pursue this? Maybe, but it would take them a lot of time to reach any success. Time they don't have." He stopped, thinking. "No, I believe they tried another energy source."

"Is there another energy source that would work?" Peggy asked.

Howard shrugged. "In theory, yes. I even considered using gamma radiation in the beginning, but it wasn't really stable enough to work and all that considering I was using Erskine's perfected formula, which they don't have. Who knows what would've happened to Cap? Maybe he would turn into an even bigger monster than the one you fought. Maybe he would have breath-taking anger management issues. Hell, he could've ended up green for all I know!"

"Is that what they used? Gamma radiation?" Steve asked, trying to focus the conversation on the important part again.

"No, what they used was a bit more powerful, even if it contains some traces of gamma radiation," Howard answered, showing them the journal Steve had acquired during the mission he fell on Themyscira. "He used the 'Power of the Gods', the Tesseract."

Diana covered her mouth with her hands; this was terrible!

"But he failed," Colonel Phillips said, in his brunt way.

"He failed _this_ time," Howard corrected. "Who knows what he will achieve if he keeps trying, keep tweaking the formula, trying new doses of energy?" Howard seemed incredibly serious now. "We know what this energy is capable of. I don't care if Schmidt is crazy enough to call it the 'Power of the Gods' or not, but I do know it has unlimited energy, energy he already used to make weapons we can't even begin to understand. If he manages to use this to stabilize his own version of the Super-Soldier Serum, we are all dead."

He opened his arms, frantically.

"Imagine an army of 'Captains HYDRA' running around! Imagine Schmidt himself, but this time with strength enough to punch our lovely Wonder Woman to the ceiling, bullet-proof skin, muscles hard enough to lift tanks! Hell, if he manages to stabilize just enough for him and his troops to remain sane, ugly monstrosities or not, they would destroy us!"

"We need to stop him," Steve declared.

"You think?!" Howard exclaimed.

"What does he need to accomplish that?" Colonel Phillips asked.

Howard was thinking, mumbling too low and too fast to make any sense as they all watched.

"He can get the ingredients for the serum pretty much anywhere. So he needs the Tesseract, or at least its energy. And people."

"People?" Peggy asked, surprised.

"Subjects," Howard explained, grim. "Lab rats. If he has no morals and a lot of people, he can advance his research pretty fast."

"The Death Camps!" Diana suddenly exclaimed. "Which one has enough people for him to keep experimenting?"

"We can find out easily enough," Colonel Phillips said.

"That would be my advice," Howard said. "It's useless to track the material in this case and we have no idea where the Tesseract is. But people being mass murdered? That's hard to conceal."

They all turned to the exit, ready to start looking, but Howard called them back.

"Another thing, we need to find out more about the Tesseract too," he said, and then sighed. "Princess, you know I don't believe in this god nonsense, but this thing really exists and someone in the past might've mistaken it for something divine. You know more about gods and myths than any of us. Take a look at this journal, see what you can find."

Diana went to him and, slowly, took the journal. She knew Howard didn't believe in her when she said she was made by the gods, but at least he trusted her enough to give her such an important task; it might have been a small thing, but it meant a lot to her.

"I won't fail you," she promised.

* * *

 **Afghanistan – February 14th, 2010**

There was a reason torture was a very guaranteed way to get information, used all across the globe since mankind existed. Cavemen beat each other up to make the weak submit to the stronger. Ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans perfectioned it, reaching new levels of cruelty. The Inquisition, during the Middle Ages, elevated it to the level of art, and the modern era kept trying to surpass it, gaining new heights during the World War I and World War II.

Tony Stark was, at the moment, an unwillingly student of this age-old practice.

He assumed, before having his head forced underwater, that his captors wouldn't cause him irreparable damage, not when they needed him to build weapons. So, probably, no severed members or broken bones. Burning was unlikely as well, since it would undoubtfully cause him an infection. Shocking him would destroy the electromagnet he needed to live, so that was out too.

Drowning him, though, that was doable; and effective.

He found out, quickly enough, that there was no such thing as resisting torture. Those movies where the good guy kept laughing and making jokes while being methodically hurt? Unrealistic on a level Tony couldn't even begin to list. There was no acting tough, no ignoring the pain, no imagining himself in another place. Pain was feared for a reason. It was evolutionary, ingrained in man's DNA, inescapable; sooner, rather than later, all a person could do was feel it.

The man drowning him pulled him back, giving him a split second to desperately breathe, but it wasn't nearly enough before he was shoved into the water again. Okay, it was time to adjust strategies. Tony obviously wouldn't endure that forever or, if he was honest with himself, for much longer. But he also couldn't give them what they wanted, out of principle, yes, but on a more practical level, because he would be killed immediately after.

But it didn't mean he couldn't lie about it. Misdirection, give only unimportant information, gaining time… Those were good strategies.

So when he was allowed to breathe again, he quickly yelled he would help; his pathetic desperation while trying to gasp for air probably didn't hurt in trying to convince them. And before he could regain his bearings, they shoved a sack over his head and began to drag him somewhere.

The light hurt his eyes like actual blades when they removed the sack.

Tony just stood there for a second, holding the car battery in his arms, trying to force his eyes to get used to the sun. He saw mountains, tents full of weapons, soldiers… Until someone slapped his head and forced him to walk. Almost falling down, still holding the battery that kept him alive protectively, Tony followed the man.

He was barely looking at his captor, though. Not when he realized that every single weapon there, from the rifles and its bullets to the missiles, were property of Stark Industries. What was going on? He had never sold anything to anyone but the US Army, certainly never to terrorists.

The man started to talk again.

"He wants to know what you think," his cellmate translated.

"I think you got a lot of my weapons," he answered, immediately, looking at the man.

His captor began to speak again, walking around him.

"He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile," he translated again. "He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately and when you are done, he will set you free."

His captor extended his hand; Tony smiled brightly and shook the man's hand.

"No, he won't," he whispered, knowingly.

"No, he won't," his cellmate agreed, smiling just as brightly.

* * *

 **Afghanistan – February 14th, 2010**

Diana lifted the remains of a burned vehicle, tossing it away. The area had been isolated by the American Army, so they could look for clues, but one call from Natalia and the soldiers were sent elsewhere by their superiors, which worked just fine for someone who didn't want to draw any attention to herself.

"The convoy was attacked from all sides," Natalia explained, as Diana studied the battlefield. "They blew up the car in front of Stark's vehicle, blocked the road, then proceeded to kill the soldiers to capture him. This was the car he was in."

The Amazon looked at the military vehicle, riddled with bullets holes.

"Somehow, Stark managed to avoid being shot inside the car and escaped," Natalia continued, "but he didn't go far." She walked, showing Diana where Tony had tried to make his escape. "This was as far as he got."

It was easy to see why. By the side of a big rock, where Tony most likely took cover from the flying bullets, there was big hole in the ground. Something blew up there and by the sprinkles of blood all around, Tony had been caught in the blast.

"He survived," Natalia said, when Diana didn't say anything. "The amount of blood he lost is not enough to kill someone and he didn't lose any body parts. He was, however, hit by the shrapnel."

"So he would need medical assistance, fast," Diana concluded.

"Most likely," Natalia agreed. "They must have moved him from here, with a car."

Problem was, it was hard to find tracks on a desert. Sand moved with the wind. There were no visible car tracks around.

"They couldn't have followed the roads," Natalia said. "The Army managed to block them quite quickly. So they could only go to the deserts." She sighed. "Not like that helps us much."

Diana, however, wasn't really listening anymore. She was concentrated, focusing all her godly senses while trying to find any sign of the vehicle used to move Tony. Back on Themyscira, her aunts and her mother had taught her to track animals, to hunt in the forests of Paradise Island; this wasn't that different. Animals, like people and machines, left their mark on the environment. One only needed to know what to look for.

Squinting her eyes, Diana used her perfect vision, passing her eyes over the drops of Tony's blood near the explosion. The sand had moved, the blood had dried, but she could still see traces of it, little grains of sand colored red. Looking down, Diana followed them, slowly, until they reached a point that had clearly been used to park a car.

"Here," Diana announced. "They carried Tony to a car parked here. They got in and left."

Natalia knew better than to argue against that, so she just asked: "Which direction did the car go?"

Diana crouched over the sand, touching it with her hands delicately. Her fingers could feel the roughness of the sand grains, the little rocks, each different from the other; and the faint sensation of something oily. She breathed deeply, her nose filling itself with the unpleasant smell of car oil.

"The car they used was probably shot, it was leaking oil," Diana said, getting up and pointing north. "There. It went in that direction."

Natalia looked from the spotless ground Diana had found all those clues, to the direction she pointed. Then she looked back to Diana.

"Is it too much to hope that you can smell the way they followed?" she asked, not able to contain her smile. "Not even for a Scooby Snack?"

Diana mock-glared at her, then concentrated on the smell of the car oil again. "I think I can. Let's us hope it didn't go far."

Without saying anything else, Diana started to walk, with Natalia following her closely. Finding prey with her sense of smell alone wasn't a new thing for Diana, not when Antiope made her track deer and rabbits deep inside the forests. It was arguably easier here, in the desert, she considered, when there were less smells to get in the way.

They walked for a long hour, the sun glaring at them. The heat didn't really bother Diana, but Natalia had covered her entire head with cloth; she was tough and trained for every situation, but she _was_ still Russian. Fair skin and bright eyes weren't the best defenses mankind had against Afghanistan's sun.

Eventually, however, they reached a small rock formation in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't different from anything around, but the smell of oil was particularly strong there. Without saying anything, Diana crouched again, concentrating. The scarce vegetation had signs of being stepped over, by heavy boots, obviously the car; and hoofs.

Smiling, Diana approached the rocks, grabbing a few strands of fur stuck to it.

"Smell that," Diana said, putting the fur against Natalia's face; the red-head spy just glared at her. "Horse, you say? Well, you are wrong. This is a camel. A particularly smelly one."

"I can't smell anything," Natalia answered, raising her eyebrows, "but I guess they left the car, right? Where is it then?"

Diana began to walk around, tapping her foot on the ground; until a different sound made itself heard, to Natalia's surprise. She began to dig, tossing the sand away, until the finally found a wood board on the ground. And lifting it with ease, she revealed the car beneath it.

"I guess they didn't burn it so the smoke wouldn't show where they were," Natalia said, looking at the abandoned car; she turned to Diana. "Follow the camel's stench, now?"

Follow the camel's stench, Diana nodded. Easier than following the leaked oil, with the amount of fur and excrement they left behind, even if her nose didn't agree. Those animals were _not_ following a proper diet, she could tell that much. Shaking her head to concentrate, they continued to walk, now moving in the mountain's direction.

Historically, mountains like those had hid people forever. They were big, went deep underground and, more importantly, only the people who lived there knew their way around them. It was almost impossible to find someone there, even with high tech equipment to help, and the rock formations were a great shield against bombardment from above.

All very impressive, but it didn't help them in the least, because apparently Tony was lost in the middle of those mountains; she could only hope they would find him there.

* * *

"I'm sure they are looking for you, Stark," Tony's cellmate said. "But they will never find you in these mountains."

Tony didn't answer, too absorbed in his own thoughts to say anything. He could only watch the fire burning, trying to catch some of its heat.

"Look, what you just saw," the man continued, approaching him when he didn't say anything, " _that_ is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work in the hand of those murderers! Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?"

Tony didn't answer again. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so hopeless. Well, that wasn't true; he felt close to that when his parents died. Lost, numb and uncaring about anything else. He could recall as if it were yesterday, how the walls seemed to close around him, cutting his air, making everything else fade.

Until that beautiful woman appeared, bringing him his father's letters.

Funny that he remembered that now, but bad moments tended to blur together, he imagined. Those letters, or more importantly, what his father said about him on them, took a weight from his chest that was suffocating him since he was kid. Diana Prince had brought him hope during a very dark moment in his life.

He wished she could do this again.

Being kidnapped, deformed, tortured and thrown inside a cold cell was bad enough; knowing those people were doing this using his weapons was worse. Tony would never claim to be a saint, but he truly believed in what he did. He built weapons, yes, but those weapons were used by his country to bring safety, not only to his people, but all across the world. Just like Howard Stark did during the WWII. War was terrible, killing people was terrible, but there were bad, _evil_ people out there. And his weapons were the only defense against them.

Apparently he was wrong about that.

His weapons were killing innocents. They were in the very hands of the evil people Stark thought he was protecting his country from. They were being used against _him_. Talk about irony. He wasn't a sentimental man, but this situation was hard to swallow.

"Why should I do anything?" Tony finally asked, his eyes still unmoving. "They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week." He pointed at his own chest.

The man got up, gazing at him with a decided look.

"Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?"

Tony finally looked at the man, unconsciously touching the metal in his chest. Maybe he was right. If he was going to die anyway, well… Then he would go out with style.

* * *

Night had fallen and finally the heat went away. It was very cold now, but Natasha was used to that, at least. The weather, however, was the last thing on her mind right now; the camp, hidden between the mountains, full of people, was what took her attention.

Diana had actually found them. She had seen her doing some pretty impressive stuff over the years, but following tracks using her nose was a new one. Still, something wasn't right. She could count 19 people down there, maybe some more inside the caves, but the place didn't seem to be their main camp. Certainly not a place to hold such an important hostage.

The presence of a helicopter in the camp didn't bode well for the probability of Stark still being there.

"I think this is just a distribution point," Natasha whispered, as she crouched by Diana's side to remain unseen. "Supplies, hostages and weapons are brought here and taken elsewhere. If that's true–"

"Then Tony isn't here," Diana finished. "But they might know his location." Saying this, she got up, looking down the mountain. "We need them alive, don't forget."

" _You_ don't forget," Natasha retorted, aiming her rifle.

And then Diana jumped, falling dozens of meters down, her lasso glowing in the night. She landed exactly on top of their campfire, completely ignoring the flames exploding under her; the men around her jumped back, shocked to their core, but not fast enough to avoid the Amazon.

Natasha aimed carefully, ignoring the screams, gunshots, sounds of broken bones and some of the flying people; then she took her shot, right in the arm of a soldier trying to aim his gun. It wasn't a fatal shot, but the powerful blast made sure the man wouldn't get up that night.

In the time she took to drop three more men, Diana had already incapacitated almost every single hostile there, non-lethally, but not kindly either; if those men could ever hold a gun again, it would be too much, by the look of things. She fired one last time, dropping a man running away, when a familiar sound cut the night.

The helicopter was turning on.

Natasha aimed at the pilot, but hesitated; she wasn't certain he would live if she took the shot. Sighing, she made her decision. The man could have valuable information, but he couldn't be allowed to escape.

But before she could pull the trigger, Diana's golden lasso wrapped itself around the helicopter.

The vehicle was already in the air, beginning to gain altitude, but Natasha knew that something like that was barely an annoyance to Diana. Getting up, already putting her rifle away, she watched as Diana pulled the helicopter down, jumping for a second to hit the blades with her bracelet.

With a horrible noise, the whole thing fell down, crashing against the ground.

Diana ripped the door and entered the helicopter, as Natasha climbed down, and came out with the unconscious pilot on her shoulders, tossing him down around the destroyed campfire with the others.

They would have a long night of interrogation, it seemed.

* * *

 **Afghanistan – February 15th, 2010**

"If this is going to be my work station, I want it well-lit!" Tony ordered, as a bunch of his kidnappers carried every single equipment he asked around his cell. "I want this up. I need welding gear, I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets, I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools."

His cellmate followed him around, translating his requests, as his captors took notes. Everybody was speaking at the same time, moving equipment, preparing what would be his new lab.

He could only hope it wouldn't be his last.

It took them almost the entire day to get everything he needed, to organize the place so he could start to work. And as soon as they left, he started, cannibalizing his own weapons so he could get the parts he needed.

"How many languages do you speak?" Tony asked his cellmate, curious, as he opened one of the several Stark Industries missiles around.

"A lot," the man answered. "But apparently not enough for this place," he joked, making Tony smile. "They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian…"

"Who are these people?" Tony questioned, finally extracting the missile's core.

Terrorists, he knew that much, but which of them? The world had so many different kinds.

"They are your loyal customers, sir," his cellmate said, serious, even though his tone was mocking. "They call themselves the Ten Rings."

Tony had never heard of them before, but then again, that wasn't surprising. Unless he was actively interested in something, details seemed to fly over his head quite easily. Whoever they were, however, they were studying him, he realized, glancing at the camera. He shook his head; if he needed one more reason to be sure they were going to kill him, that was it. Why else would they try to learn how he built his weapons, if they weren't going to get rid of him eventually?

"You know, we might be more productive if you include me in the planning process," his cellmate suggested, as he worked quickly.

"Aham," was all he had to say about that, as he used his elbow to open another missile.

He removed the insides of the weapon, carefully removing a single piece from the whole thing; and throwing the rest away over his shoulders.

"Okay, we don't need this," he said, as if the shattering sound didn't clearly indicate that.

"What is this?" his cellmate asked, looking at the small piece he had saved.

"That's palladium, 0.15 grams," Tony answered. "We need at least 1.6, so why don't you go break down the other 11?"

If there was one advantage of working inside a cave, it was the fact that they weren't aware of how much time was passing. Tony lost track of time when he worked, usually stopping only when he was exhausted, and in that place there would be no Jarvis or Pepper to yell at him. It wasn't healthy, but at least it was efficient.

He and his cellmate worked nonstop, the man following his orders to the letter, as they broke down the weapons to gather parts. Of course, neither him or his captors knew what Tony was intending to do with them. Tony meant it when he said he wouldn't build the Jericho missile. Not only that kind of destructive weapon in the hands of these people would mean disaster, he wasn't willing to just hand over his life's work to them.

Yeah, he was stubborn, but it didn't mean he wasn't right.

"What do I call you?" Tony finally asked his cellmate.

"My name is Yinsen," he answered.

* * *

None of them knew where Tony Stark had been taken; Diana almost punched the mountain until it became dust when that fact became apparent. Natalia was right, this wasn't a Ten Ring's camp, it was a distribution point. Tony had indeed been there, but only so he could be transported in the helicopter somewhere else.

The pilot that took him dropped Tony and a couple of men on a designated point in the middle of the desert and left, so he also didn't know. Diana had that location and she supposed it would be her next stop, but if the Ten Rings had taken that much care in hiding Tony, it was unlikely she would just stumble upon him there.

"I have coordinates of other drop points," Natalia said, arriving from the cave with a map. "I'll sent my people there to look for clues and to take these clowns for further interrogation."

Diana nodded, not really paying attention. She knew it wouldn't be easy to find Tony, but she hoped it would. Any minute she spent here, lost in the desert, was a minute he could be suffering any kind of torture. She had lost Howard, she couldn't fail Tony as well.

"We will find him," Natalia whispered, grabbing her hand strongly, no doubt noticing her struggle. "Coulson is making inquiries back home, seeing if he can find any sign of foul play. And we'll continue to search here. Something will come up, it always does."

Except Diana had looked for the Ten Rings for years before, without success. Granted, back then the organization wasn't nearly as big and she wasn't nearly as motivated, but still… It made her think. If only she knew someone who could help her. Someone who had experience with the enemies of K'un-Lun and with its artifacts. Someone who could help her to search…

Oh! Maybe there was one person.

"I think I know someone that can help us," Diana said, suddenly, looking at Natalia. She sighed. "But I really don't like to owe him any favors…"

* * *

 **Afghanistan – February 18th, 2010**

The shinning blue light generated by the small arc illuminated the entire cave, making the rest of the lights of his lab flick.

"Wow! That… Doesn't look like a Jericho missile," Yinsen said, watching the small object fascinated.

Tony Stark smiled.

"That's because it's a miniaturized arc reactor," he answered. "I got a big one powering my factory at home. It should keep the shrapnel out of my heart."

"But what could it generate?"

"If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second," Tony said.

"That could run your heart for 50 lifetimes," Yinsen interjected.

Tony looked at him.

"Yeah, or something big for fifteen minutes," he said, grabbing a set of schematics. "I have something to show you."

"What is it?" he asked, studying his designs.

"Our ticket out of here."

* * *

 **Hey, guys, how are you? Sorry for the long delay, but finally a new chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Review, favorite, follow… Tell me what you think about it. Thanks for everything!**


	16. Chapter 16 - All Begins With a Getaway

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 16 – All Begins With a Getaway**

 **Afghanistan – February 25** **th** **, 2010**

Tony stopped for a second, mechanically shaking the dices in his hands, as he watched the blue light glowing from his chest. He wasn't sure he would ever get used to that, to have a blue flashlight coming out of his ribs. Of course, the arc reactor was not _just_ a weird flashlight attached forever to his chest, it was also a piece of technology capable of generating an overwhelming amount of clean energy. Something his own father, Howard Stark, had began to develop, as a way to provide cheap energy to the world.

He had no clue how his dad came up with the idea, but it was a good one, even if he didn't live enough to see it becoming viable. No, Tony was the one who did that, who perfected the arc reactor, who took the immense form of the blue machine that powered Stark Industries and made it small enough to fit his hand.

Who knew it would save his life one day?

Tony could complain all he wanted about it, but having the arc reactor in his chest was still better than the previous alternative, the car battery; or, before that, a gruesome death. Shaking his head, trying to ignore the fact that he would be forced to live with that thing stuffed inside his chest from now on, Tony threw the dices on the backgammon's board.

"Good roll, good roll," Yinsen congratulated him.

"You still haven't told me where you're from," Tony said, suddenly.

Usually, he wasn't one to care much about people's lives, but Yinsen _was_ the reason he was alive. And he had operated on him twice now. Like it or not, they were together on this. And if he were a bit more honest with himself, he did like Yinsen.

"I'm from a small town called Gulmira," Yinsen answered, throwing the dices. "It's actually a nice place."

"Got any family?" Tony asked.

"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?"

He, having a family? Tony would have laughed if the very idea wasn't so tragic.

"No."

"No?" Yinsen asked, eyeing him sagely. "So you are a man who has everything… And nothing."

Tony wasn't sure what to say about that, so he remained in silence. The funny thing was, Tony never really wanted a family, never wanted to settle down. His family wasn't the perfect model of what a family should be, that was the truth, and just the idea of forming a family of his own like that made him dizzy.

Until now.

Maybe it was the near-death situations or the captivity, but Tony couldn't help but imagine what would be to have a family or to at least have _someone_ in his life. Tony could literally count on one hand the people close to him and one of them was an AI. Jarvis, Rhodey, Obie and Pepper. That was it. And truth be told, could he really say they were that close?

For a long time, Tony was worried about getting out of his father's shadow, to have a legacy of his own. But would that really matter if there wasn't anybody there with him to see it? Would anyone really miss him if he never came back? He was a genius, playboy, billionaire and philanthropist, but was that really _all_ he was? Usually Tony wouldn't care two bits about this, but, well, near-death experiences had the tendency of making people think.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of steps and yelling outside their cell. For a second, Tony tensed, waiting for them to barge in; it was late, but that didn't really stop them before. No one came to their door, however, even if they were close.

"What is happening?" Tony whispered, seeing that Yinsen was concentrated as well.

He didn't answer, still looking at the door. Could they have noticed that they were being tricked? They did what they could to conceal the true nature of their work, but who could know? If the Ten Rings realized Tony wasn't really building the Jericho missiles, but a set of armor strong enough to take them out of there, well… Torture and a violent death would probably follow pretty quickly.

"They are afraid of something," Yinsen said, suddenly. "Something is… It's difficult to hear, but I think there is something hunting them."

Tony felt a spark of hope. "The Army?"

"No," Yinsen denied immediately. "They aren't afraid of the Army. I… I don't really know anything that scares the Ten Rings, to be honest."

"But they are scared now, aren't them? That's good!"

Yinsen turned to him, serious. "Is it? Only because whatever is hunting them is their enemy, it doesn't mean automatically that it is our friend. In fact, something capable of terrifying them that much is probably something _worse_."

"But–"

"Shhh!" Yinsen interrupted, listening again. They remained in complete silence for a second, hearing the muffled yelling. "Their camps are being obliterated, their soldiers are being killed. There is no way to fight, no way to hide…" He closed his eyes, no doubt trying to hear even further.

And when he opened them, he was a pale.

" _Godkiller!_ " Yinsen whispered.

What? What the hell did that even mean?

"I don't know what it is, Stark, but I heard stories," Yinsen said, looking clearly terrified. "Bloodbaths during the WWII, people slaughtered in Russia… We have to make haste, Stark. Whatever this thing is, we don't want to meet it, believe me."

Tony had no idea what that meant, what this Godkiller thing even was, a person, a group, a terrorist faction… But he knew fear when he saw it and Yinsen was _terrified_. Time to stop playing games and resting, they needed to work on that armor as fast as they could now.

The last thing they needed was to get caught in the crossfire of a terrorist organization and something strong enough to be hunting them.

* * *

 **Hong Kong – March 25** **th** **, 2010**

Natasha Romanoff allowed her mind to dive into the comfortable shadows of her training. Almost immediately, she felt her body react, her heart rate slowed down, her focus rose; her emotions were numbed, there was no place for them right now. At that moment, Natasha Romanoff wasn't a person.

She was the Black Widow.

Her green eyes assessed the dock in front of her, paying attention to the details, mapping the paths, learning the patrolling patterns of the heavily armed guards. Without making any sound, she crouched over the big container, trusting the shadows of the night and her dark outfit to keep her concealed.

Tony Stark had been kidnapped about a month ago. SHIELD, the American Military, the CIA and pretty much everyone else who could profit on Stark's safe return were looking for him; none had found anything yet. Diana was no different. She had turned Afghanistan upside down on her quest to find people linked to the Ten Rings, so she could discover information using her lasso, but even if she was successful in finding the Mandarin's agents sometimes, none of them knew anything.

A month under the Ten Rings hospitality probably wasn't good for Stark's health, but at least they knew he was alive, since his kidnappers saw fit to send proof in the form of videos, most likely to try to keep the charade that this was just a normal kidnapping.

It wasn't, everybody knew that. Tony Stark wouldn't be released alive even if everybody that wanted him back decided to pay the ransom asked ten times over. But it was better for everyone, mostly the public eyes, that this was treated as a normal kidnapping of a rich person, rather than the kidnapping of a genius who could be forced to make weapons for a terrorist organization.

But that wasn't Natasha's business. Her business was finding Tony Stark. And Diana might have provided her with the information necessary to do that.

In one of her attacks against the Ten Rings people, Diana had discovered the location of a high ranked member of the organization. A man named Temujin. SHIELD had next to nothing on him and that bothered Natasha. She didn't know if that was his real name, what was his family name, where he lived, who were his known associates… All she knew was what Diana gave her.

A name and a location.

Apparently, Temujin, whoever he was, would be in Hong Kong to receive a shipment of weapons from the Triad. That was it. She didn't know how Diana had acquired this information, probably through violence, but even if it was less than she'd like, it was good enough for her. So she flew to Hong Kong to capture the man, interrogate him and then take him to Diana, in Afghanistan, so she could interrogate him for real. She would have one shot at this. If this man escaped, who knows if they would get another lead. That's why Natasha decided not to go alone.

She took AMAZON unit with her.

Composed by her friends rescued from the Red Room, led by her and trained by Diana and Peggy Carter themselves, AMAZON unit was the most dangerous and effective team SHIELD had; only their ultimate loyalty wasn't to SHIELD, but to Diana, as was her own loyalty. She, and by extension her team, believed in what SHIELD represented and were happy to work for them, but there was only one person in the world they would follow to the depts of Tartarus itself and that person was Diana.

That's why Natasha brought them with her.

"Status?" Natasha whispered on the radio.

" _Achilles in position."_

" _Bellerophon in position._ "

" _Jason in position._ "

" _Perseus in position._ "

" _Theseus in position."_

" _Odysseus in position._ "

She studied the docks for one last time, mapping her way to where the meeting between Temujin and the Triad was happening, and gave the order:

"Move out."

As if they were one, AMAZON advanced, moving as shadows through the containers in the dock. From her vantage point, Natasha could watch as her Amazons moved through the corridors between the containers, predators hunting they prey, and the Triad's men began to drop. One by one, Natasha could see the Triad's men being neutralized across the dock, down before they even knew they were being attacked, like candles being snuffed out.

It was quickly, efficient and deadly.

No gun was fired, not by her agents nor by the Chinese criminals. The AMAZON unit, being trained by Diana, were experts in melee combat. Her Amazons were using short swords, knives and even their Amazon bracelets to neutralize the enemies; agent codenamed "Odysseus" even dropped one using her bow and arrow, a perfect shot that would've made Clint proud.

And when her path was clear, Natasha advanced as well, moving towards the target.

"Form a perimeter around the meeting," she ordered, as she ran jumping from container to container. "No one, I repeat, no one escapes."

Jumping one last time, Natasha landed on the closest container and approached slowly, her eyes fixed on the people down there. It was an encounter of two criminal organizations, so it was unnecessary to say that every and each man down there was armed. The Triad, an organization strong in China, was unloading the weapon's crates as the men who belonged to the Ten Rings moved them towards their vehicles. A good amount of them simply stood watch, from both sides, ready to defend their organization's interests.

In the middle of all that were two men.

One was the man in charge of that detachment of the Triad, a Chinese man wearing a black suit. Natasha was sure he was armed, but whatever weapon he had was not in his hands; either a sign of arrogance or respect. But it wasn't that man that Natasha was there for, it was the one facing him.

Temujin was an intimidating man. He was garbed in typical Chinese attires, a long sleeved red shirt with golden dragons and black, baggy pants; clothes that wouldn't be out of place in a Kung Fu academy. His head was shaved and face had a serious, but calm expression, as he watched his men work. Both his hands were at his back, as if nothing present there was a threat to him.

He was dangerous, Natasha could tell that only by glancing at him. But so was she.

"Everyone in position?" Natasha asked, grabbing her rifle from her back and aiming; her Amazons confirmed what she already knew. "Fire!"

It was quick and methodical, just like Peggy had trained them to do. Every shot hit its mark, going from the leaders to their subordinates. The man leading the Triad was the first to die, then his lieutenants, the guards and finally the workmen moving the crates. Even with the sounds of firing, the yelling and the criminals attempts to fire back, no one missed a shot. Natasha was firing nonstop as well, picking her targets fast, but calmly, dropping the men from the Ten Rings from the top of the command chain to the bottom.

Until only Temujin was left standing.

Reloading her rifle as she got up, Natasha jumped down from the container, her weapon pointed at Temujin. She could see the rest of her team approaching as well, weapons fixed on their target. The docks were littered with bodies and shell casings, blood flowing through the ground, almost black under the moon.

And even then, Temujin remained at the same spot, his eyes without a hint of fear as he observed their approach.

"Put your hands up," Natasha commanded, in perfect Chinese, as her Amazons formed a circle around him.

The man just stared at her, hands still at his back.

"Don't be an idiot," Natasha threated.

Temujin smiled.

"I suspect that if you wanted me dead, I wouldn't be only one left standing," Temujin said, in English, still staring at Natasha. "No, this is not so simple, yes? I doubt SHIELD would send its Amazons to stop a mere weapon's trade. I can only conclude that this is about Tony Stark, yes?" He smiled again, but his eyes were dangerous. "You are seeking information and dead men do not speak."

Natasha nodded, not bothering to deny anything. What she did, however, was change the trajectory of her gun to point at his knees.

"True, but if you don't want to become a cripple, I would do what I say. Fast."

He just kept staring at her with those predatory eyes, but slowly, with deliberately long movements, Temujin rose his arms.

"I do not know anything about that," he said. "You are wasting your time."

Natasha tilted her head, ignoring him as she ordered agent codenamed "Jason" to approach and restrain him. The Amazon took a pair of handcuffs from her belt and walked to Temujin, grabbing his wrist so she could arrest him.

At that moment, what seemed to be an accomplished mission, turned into anything but.

Natasha was a martial artist, trained by the Red Room and by Diana, the Amazon Princess who defeated the God of War himself, and even she was surprised by the dexterity and speed that Temujin moved. He turned his arm and body before Jason could close the cuffs around his wrist and suddenly it was her Amazon that had her arm twisted. Jason yelled in pain, before Temujin delivered a quick kick against her stomach and grabbed her close, using her as a shield against Natasha.

The AMAZON unit was surprised for a fraction of a second, but soon they advanced, choosing their melee weapons instead of their guns so they wouldn't risk hitting their fellow Amazon or killing Temujin. Achilles was the first to arrive, her short sword already moving to hit Temujin's back, but the man simply rose his leg without even looking and kicked her arm before the weapon could come down; then, using the momentum, he used the same leg to kick her face, throwing her back with a brutal blow.

Twisting, Temujin used his body weight to throw Jason against the approaching Amazons, dropping both Theseus and Bellerophon, and jumped high up, falling upon Perseus with three fast kicks, moving too quickly for Natasha to risk firing. Perseus managed to defend herself using her small shield and Temujin landed in front of her, but before she could even think about counter-attacking, he used his palm to deliver a hit against her shield.

And to everyone's astonishment, Perseus was simply launched back, her bullet-proof shield bending like paper under Temujin's palm and clashing against the Amazon with incredible strength.

No normal human could do that, Natasha knew, no matter how talented they were in martial arts. She could only watch as Perseus crashed against a container by her side, falling to the ground, clearly too hurt to fight back. Natasha crouched close to her, quickly, assessing her condition, relieved to hear her still breathing, and then she turned to Temujin, right at the moment Odysseus fired an arrow.

Odysseus was close, running towards Temujin when she released the arrow, so there was no way for him to dodge; except that, apparently, he didn't need to. He used the same movement that he had against Perseus, but this time hitting the air with his palm. And to her surprise, the arrow was pushed back by an invisible force.

An invisible force that hit Odysseus directly against the chest, sending her bouncing against the ground.

Temujin remained immobile for a second, in the exact same position he delivered the blow against Odysseus; then, slowly, he stood up, staring at Natasha with his hands on his back, completely disregarding the fact that he had defeated her entire unit with his bare hands.

"You have my utmost respect, Natasha Romanoff," Temujin said, surprising her with his knowledge, "but you cannot defeat me. I have trained since birth to harness my chi, to make my body an extension of my will. I have learned dozens of martial arts. My master is the greatest warrior in the East."

Natasha held his stare for almost a minute, then put her rifle down. He began to smile, thinking she was surrendering herself, just until she rose her arms, adopting a fighting stance.

"My master is the greatest warrior in this world and in any other world she chooses to go," Natasha said, her Bracelets of Submission glowing under the moon. "It's time for you to learn that."

Carefully, Natasha began to walk towards Temujin, her eyes fixed on him. She heard Theseus and Bellerophon groaning and trying to get up, but she just shook her head, telling them to back off; Temujin was too dangerous to be fought by them, especially since they couldn't fight to kill.

He waited for her, still with his hands at his back. Then, holding her stare, he adopted his fighting stance. Natasha tensed her muscles, every inch of her body expecting just a single opening as Temujin mirrored her movements. Despite what Temujin might've thought, Natasha was very aware of what chi was, Diana had taught her about it. The energy of life, present in every living being, that could be harnessed by those who knew how to enhance they strength, speed and reaction time. It was a force that could be used for healing and killing with the same effectiveness. That meant that Temujin had an edge against her. He was undoubtedly stronger, faster and with better reflexes.

Lucky for her, this was not the first time she fought someone stronger than her.

They moved at the same time. Temujin and Natasha lunged against each other, punching, kicking, their arms and legs hitting against one another with terrible noises and precision. She felt her bones straining against the blows, even protected behind her suit's armor; she ignored the pain.

Temujin was leading the fight, testing her, showing just how much better he was; the fact that she knew that didn't make it any less true. But it confirmed her theory that she would have to fight dirty. Dodging his punch, Natasha grabbed her pistol and fired against him, knowing very well that he would evade the bullets. He wasn't, by any means, faster than her bullets, not like Diana was. But he was faster than her and with his reflexes he could easily predict the trajectory of her gun and evade it.

It wasn't a problem. Her goal was not to kill him, it was to force some distance between them. And it worked. As soon as he retreated, she tossed a smoke grenade in the middle of them, quickly covering her face with her mask and turning on her heat-vision.

"Are you truly so desperate that you have to resort to using tricks?" she heard Temujin say, apparently completely unbothered by the smoke. "It seems you are not the warrior I thought you were."

Wrong. Warriors fought with any means they had at their disposal. This wasn't a tournament with rules, this was a battle. Diana taught her that. Ignoring his taunting, she grabbed a small electric disk from her belt, tossing it against him. It was a weapon made to destabilize electronics, but it would be enough to put him down.

Or so she thought.

Even without being able to see anything in that smoke, Natasha watched through her heat-vision goggles as Temujin lifted his hand and grabbed the small disk. His hand closed around it and she could actually hear the electricity clacking, but nothing else was happening; he had used his chi to defend him against it.

"Futile. And embarrassing," Temujin said, breaking the small disk and tossing it on the ground. "I see this is all you are capable of. Time to end this."

And then he advanced. He moved _so fast_ that the smoke around him was blasted away and he was in front of Natasha as if he had teleported. She barely had the time to raise her arm to block a punch, but he hit her with such strength that it didn't make a difference. Natasha was thrown to the side, rolling on the ground to regain her balance, bending her body backwards to avoid a following kick.

Using all her training, Natasha rolled back and spun, just in time to dodge a punch; a punch that hit, instead, a container behind her. It was like the steel of the container had been hit by a cannon. The metal didn't simply bend, it imploded as the chi was unleashed, piercing the entire thing until it reached the opposite side, once again exploding the steel, but this time outwards.

Natasha used that precious moment to kick Temujin in the ribs, eliciting at least a little response, and using him as a stepping stone to gain some distance. She knew, without a shred of doubt, that if Temujin managed to hit her with that chi enhanced punch she was dead. Her body wasn't nearly strong enough to endure such power. She frowned for a second, her mind thinking fast about her alternatives, when something finally occurred to her. She knew she was dead if she was hit.

And Temujin knew it too.

Retreating fast, Natasha rolled and stood up, defiant, assuming her fighting stance once again. Temujin frowned for a second, no doubt trying to imagine why she wasn't running for her life.

"Finally accepted your fate?" he asked.

Natasha smiled. "Have you accepted yours?"

She could actually hear the chi being gathered around his fist, as if a river of pure energy was moving inside Temujin. Specks of dust around him trembled, little stones were pushed away and even the remnants of her smoke grenade were expelled. He stared at Natasha, assuming his stance.

"Accept it or not, fate always comes true," Temujin said. And attacked.

The ground broke under Temujin as he moved, such was the strength and speed of his attack. The air around them became violent like a storm and Temujin's loud battle cry pierced the night. It happened so fast that Natasha barely had the time to lift her arms, crossing them in front of her face.

Then Temujin's fist collided against Natasha's Bracelets of Submission.

The sound alone was terrifying, as if a thunderbolt had dropped down from the sky right at their side. The wind howled, strong as a tornado, making Natasha's red hair sway. The debris around them was thrown in every direction, as the chi blast exploded.

But the Bracelets of Submission remained unscathed.

Unlike her sisters, Natasha's bracelets were the real deal, forged with Amazon steel using knowledge given by the Gods. They simply swallowed all the chi blast into them, absorbing the impact as if it never happened. Nothing, not even a fist enhanced with chi, could damage it. Natasha knew that; Temujin didn't.

She saw him widening his eyes in shock for a second and grinned, taking her chance. Opening her crossed arms, she threw Temujin's arm up. With a tender gesture, Natasha activated her Widow's Bite, seeing the bracelets around her arms glow blue, the electricity enhanced to unbelievable levels when conducted by the Amazon steel.

Then she punched Temujin's chest with both hands, unleashing the electricity.

This time his chi didn't protect him. This time the weapon Diana and Peggy created for her, using her Bracelets of Submission for it, was simply too much for Temujin to block. The blue energy swallowed his entire body, making him shake uncontrollably, until it tossed him back several meters.

Natasha watched the smoke surrounding Temujin's body with a satisfied smile.

"It seems your fate wasn't that nice, was it?" she provoked, even knowing that he was unconscious. She looked around, seeing her Amazons getting up and helping the injured. "Everybody okay?"

Her warriors nodded, gathering their weapons and approaching Temujin to, this time, restrain him properly. When he woke up, Natasha would have a lot of questions to ask him. She grabbed her radio.

"Antiope to Pegasus, do you copy?" Natasha said on the radio.

" _Loud and clear, Antiope._ "

"We are moving to the evac point. We'll need a ride home."

" _Pegasus is on its way. Over and out._ "

Natasha looked up to the moon, sighing. Hopefully all this would be worth something.

* * *

 **London – April 6th, 1944**

Diana fervently turned the pages of the journal Howard had entrusted her, comparing the drawings in it with the piles of documents and works of art stored in the room. The journal belonged to Schmidt's lead scientist, Arnim Zola, and it had been stolen by the Howling Commandos on the very mission that Steve ended up crashing on Themyscira. It was full of formulas, sketches and notes about ongoing experiments.

Most importantly, it was filled with information about the Tesseract.

She stared at the simple sketch of the cube, paying attention to the notes all around it, trying to find out more about it. Her fingers passed over the numbers for a second, as she pulled a pile of documents to her lap, notes made by Howard when he studied it. Being a scientist himself, Howard had been a lot more interested in figuring out how exactly the cube worked, much like Zola. There was even a passage where he tried to understand the flow of energy inside the cube, wondering if that wasn't the whole secret behind its unlimited power.

It was an unfinished arc-like shape, full of numbers around it, with a big question mark on the side where Howard had written: " _Need more data!_ "

How Howard had gotten that far simply studying pieces of HYDRA weaponry they'd captured Diana didn't know, but it was impressive. However, that wasn't what she was looking for. She wasn't reading all that to find out how the Tesseract worked, there wasn't enough information yet for that. She was there to find out clues about the Tesseract itself and then, if they were lucky enough, manage to trace where it had been all this time; HYDRA, surely, weren't the only ones in the world that had studied it. And if they could find who else had the Tesseract in the past, then maybe they would find out more about it.

Diana was pretty sure she had found a clue.

The door opened and Diana didn't even need to look to know it was Howard walking in, followed by Peggy and Steve; she had memorized the sounds of their steps already.

"What do you have for me, Princess?" Howard asked excited, sitting on the floor by her side.

"I think I know what the Tesseract is," Diana announced, smiling. "It took me some time to remember, but I knew I'd heard about it before."

"On Themyscira?" Steve asked.

She nodded. "It is ancient story, something dangerous and not meant to be spoken lightly, but my aunt, Antiope, taught me about it." Diana got up and went to a set of old artworks from Ancient Greece. Pieces from the various museums in London that the SSR was protecting in their headquarters, so they wouldn't be destroyed during the bombardments. "I'm sure you heard the story before, even if you only consider it a myth. Long ago, in ancient times, the world was ruled by gods. But the gods were not the first beings to rule the Earth."

Diana pointed at the painted mural, drawing their gazes. It was a depiction of Cronus, son of Ouranos and Gaea, the King of Titans. Diana had no way of knowing if the image drawn was true to how he really looked like, of course, but it fit with the images she had seen on Themyscira. Cronus was a huge being, more like a shadow covered in armor than anything else, holding a scythe bigger than he was.

"Cronus was Zeus's father," Diana continued. "He usurped his own father's throne, Ouranos, and became the King of Titans. And for a very, very long time, he ruled unopposed, being so powerful that no one could ever face him. He was a tyrant, a monster that threatened the very cosmos, leader of an army so powerful that he could conquer the universe."

Despite no doubt believing it was just a myth, Steve, Peggy and Howard were listening raptly.

"But there was a prophecy…"

"There is always one," Peggy sighed.

"… A prophecy that stated Cronus would be defeated by one of his own children, just as he had defeated his own father. No matter how powerful he became, no matter how large his army was, fate was set. He did not accept that." Diana pointed at the mural again, this time to the smaller forms in front of Cronus. "Cronus was married to Rhea, the Mother of Gods, and she gave him six children. Children that, according to the prophecy, would grow up to defeat Cronus and take his throne. That, more than anything, terrified him. So much that, one by one, he devoured them whole."

The three grimaced at that, watching as Diana pointed to the little babies being devoured by Cronus.

"Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter... They were all eaten while they were defenseless babies, unable to fight back, until Zeus was finally born," Diana continued. "Rhea couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't sacrifice another one of her children, so she hid Zeus and made Cronus eat a rock in his place."

"How did he not notice that?" Howard asked, raising his eyebrows.

Diana shrugged. "Magic perhaps?" It wasn't the answer Howard was expecting, apparently, but she went on with the story. "Zeus survived and grew up powerful and, like the prophecy had foreseen, he waged war against his father. He stole Cronus's scythe and used it to cut his father's stomach, releasing his siblings and then the six of them fought together, defeating the Titans and sealing them in Tartarus forever. Thus, the Age of Gods began."

She looked at the drawing of Zeus, the god that gave her life, side by side with his brothers and sisters, prepared to lead Olympus and Earth into this new age.

"Okay, that was a nice story, but what does it have to do with the Tesseract?" Howard asked, impatient.

"Cronus was the King of Titans, but he was most known by his other title," Diana answered, pointing at Cronus again, "the 'Father of Time'. The stories tell that Cronus could manipulate the very fabric of time, that he had past, present and future at the tip of his fingers. Cronus was the master of time, he was since his birth, but he only achieved such control over it when he acquired _this_."

Her finger stopped over a small green stone encrusted in Cronus's dark scythe. Such a small detail, something that would be easily missed, and yet the mural made sure to highlight it, showing how important it was.

"Now, what is this?" Howard whispered, no doubt recognizing some similarity between the two stones.

"This is the Time Stone," Diana announced. "One of the Six Infinity Stones, artifacts that predated the creation of the very universe, each one the concentrated power of an aspect of the universe. The Time Stone was, obviously, the embodiment of time itself. And when Cronus got his hands in it, he was unstoppable. Or at least he thought so, until Zeus waged war against him and defeated him." She tilted her head. "I guess even knowing with absolute certainty that some things will happen, sometimes those things can't be avoided."

"Maybe his children wouldn't be so willing to depose him if he treated them like, you know, his children," Steve mentioned.

"Self-fulfilling prophecies," Peggy said, rolling her eyes. "The Greeks _loved_ that."

"Okay, forget the big Titan guy," Howard said, getting up and pointing at the Time Stone. "Tell me about this. Because unless I'm very wrong, this thing is remarkably similar to the Tesseract."

Diana smiled. "A glowing stone with unlimited power, with capabilities that few people can even understand? That was my deduction too. I am almost certain that the Tesseract is another of the Infinity Stones, though I'm not sure which yet."

"I knew something like this would appear in your myths, Princess!" Howard exclaimed, happy. "Inexplicable things are always depicted in myths by primitive people, in their attempts to explain the universe. It's no wonder the ancient Greeks tried to explain an object like that with a story about a Titan that could control time!"

Diana lost her smile and almost slapped Howard. Steve, maybe sensing that, approached them fast.

"Do you know what happened to the Time Stone?" he asked, quickly, seeing Diana's hand twitch.

"Zeus destroyed Cronus's scythe, granting the Olympians protection against Time with this action, and entrusted the Stone to a guardian, a powerful sorcerer," Diana answered. "I do not know what happened to it after that, the stories don't say. Infinity Stones are dangerous artifacts, Steve. If their wielders aren't consumed by their power, then they are consumed by others trying to acquire said power. That is why they are kept well-guarded and, most importantly, in secret." She grabbed Zola's journal. "The same thing no doubt happened to the Tesseract."

She opened it and started to turn the pages, stopping on one she had previously marked.

"I have no idea who forged the Tesseract," Diana started. "Whatever civilization that took that particular Infinity Stone and crafted it into the Tesseract is long, long gone. Like any other Infinity Stone, it probably sparked wars that wiped out entire races through the universe, changing hands and guardians over time, so finding its trail is almost impossible. Or it was, until I read this entry."

Opening Zola's journal so all of them could see, she started reading.

"' _February 26_ _th_ _, 1943:_

 _The Tesseract still baffles us. It is a source of unlimited energy, and yet it is safely contained into this small form, harmless to even the touch of bare hands. Despite the fact that we can identify certain traces of the radiation it emits, the main type of energy remains unclassified and unknown. But more than an energy source, the Tesseract seems to contain knowledge itself, stored in it like information inside a computer. We were successful in accessing some of that, but our equipment is nowhere near strong enough to access all of it or even translate everything we did access. It appears that in addition of being a source of infinite energy, it is also a source of infinite knowledge as well. I am a man of science, but the title Schmidt gave to this artifact he found in Tonsberg, Norway, fits perfectly: the Jewel of Odin's Treasure Room. More and more the Tesseract seems to be something that fell from the heavens itself.'_

Diana stopped reading and looked at them, smiling brightly.

"You see?" she asked. "The Tesseract was one of the artifacts protected by Odin himself! I do not know when or why, but Odin must've hidden it on Earth during one of their visits to Norway. If we want–"

"How exactly did you just read that?" Howard interrupted, befuddled.

"What?" Diana asked, losing her line of thought for a moment.

"The journal, how are you reading it?" Howard insisted. Steve and Peggy were also looking at her puzzled, their eyes going from the journal to her. "It's encrypted! Not even our best code-breakers managed to decode everything! That's why I gave you all those documents, because these are the parts we managed to translate. But _this_ part," he said, pointing at the page she had just read, "this part they couldn't decode. How did you do it in so little time?"

Diana looked at Howard's shocked face for a moment, then shrugged.

"Codes are just different languages," she said, simply. "I can understand any language."

Howard closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply, then opened them abruptly.

"But _how_?!" he exclaimed. "This doesn't make any sen–"

"It doesn't matter, Howard, let her continue!" Peggy interrupted, angry. She turned to Diana. "Please, continue."

Diana blinked for a second, then nodded. "Um… Where was I? Oh! Odin probably entrusted his followers, here on Earth, to protect it. The Red Skull found it in Tonsberg. If we want to know more about it, to continue to follow the trail, that's the place to look."

Peggy smiled brightly at her and Diana couldn't help but to smile back. She had done it! She was very proud at herself.

"Um, there is only a problem," Steve started, hesitant. "Tonsberg was bombed to cinders by HYDRA. There is nothing left."

That deflated their cheerfulness pretty fast. If Tonsberg was destroyed, the Tesseract's trail was too. All she did had been for nothing?

"Maybe we can still find something," Steve mentioned. "If those Stones were that valuable, they probably kept every information about them safe. And there is nowhere safer than underground. If that is true, something might have survived the bombings."

"You think so?" Diana asked, feeling a bit of hope coming back.

Steve smiled at her, making her feel warm. "We'll only know when we go there."

"Unfortunately, that's going to have to wait," Colonel Phillips interrupted, entering the room. Diana knew he was listening to her story, and Steve probably heard him as well, but Peggy and Howard jumped in surprise. "We have a new mission."

"Where to, Colonel?" Steve asked, getting up.

"To the place that is supplying Schmidt with people for his experiments: Auschwitz."

Diana got up alongside Steve, staring at Colonel Phillips; she grinned fiercely. The Tesseract could wait. They had another Death Camp to destroy.

* * *

 **Kabul, Afghanistan - March 25** **th** **, 2010**

Diana answered her phone, spinning to avoid a gunshot, her black skinsuit turning into a blurry shadow because of the speed she moved.

"Do you have him?" she asked, reflecting the bullet back to the shooter without even looking at him.

" _He is already on the Quinjet,_ " Natalia answered. " _Are people shooting at you right now?_ "

"Just a bit," Diana said, dashing forward with her sword, moving so fast that the Ten Rings terrorists couldn't even react. With quick and precise movements, her blade cut their weapons in half, before she sheathed it again and punched the three remaining terrorists; they were unconscious before they hit the ground. "Is everybody okay?" she asked, finally able to speak without the loud sound of guns.

" _Some cuts and bruises, but everybody is fine. The mission was a success._ "

"That's good to hear," Diana said, relived. She knew Natalia and the rest of her girls were more than competent, but she worried sometimes.

She was the one who gave them the mission, she would never forgive herself if something happened to them.

" _I'm keeping him drugged for now,_ " Natalia said. " _And very well restrained. He knows how to use chi._ "

Diana stopped walking for a second, feeling her heart skip a beat. That was a detail she wasn't aware of when she sent Natalia to grab Temujin. True masters of martial arts were dangerous enough, but masters who could use chi were a real menace, she knew that very well. Not only from meeting warriors that could do that in Man's World, but from Themyscira. Though rare, some Amazons did know how to use chi; Antiope and her mother were good examples.

"Are you sure you are okay, Nat?" Diana asked, almost whispering.

" _I'm fine! I defeated him. Believe or not, but you taught me well._ "

She sighed again, feeling both relief and guilt. Well, at least things had worked out.

"Double the dosage of whatever drugs you are giving him," Diana warned. "Chi can clean the body from toxins faster than usual. Trust me, you don't want this man waking up during the flight, that's not going to be nice for anyone."

" _Good idea,_ " Natalia agreed, ordering someone to do what Diana said. " _Anyway, I didn't have the chance to interrogate him yet, but he says he doesn't know a thing._ "

"The Lasso of Hestia will know for sure," Diana affirmed. "Bring him here."

" _Already on my way,_ " Natalia answered. " _Did you find any other clue?_ "

"Not sure yet," Diana said, looking around. "I'll let you know. Have a good flight."

" _See you soon._ "

Diana finished the call and put the cell back in her pocket, already going to the unconscious men she had defeated right now. She was inside a warehouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, a weapon's storage used by the Ten Rings that she had found in her searches. It was a big place, full of huge crates, very well protected; but if she was honest with herself, she doubted she would find something useful here.

No one knew about Tony. The cell that had taken him had isolated themselves even from the Ten Rings own operations. Diana and Natalia had already raided dozens of camps, storages, bases and warehouses belonging to the terrorist organization, in multiple countries, but no one there knew anything about Tony's whereabouts. She wasn't one to lose faith easily, but even she was beginning to fell her hope plummeting fast.

Natalia probably had their best chance now.

Temujin, by what Diana gathered during her interrogations, was a high ranked member of the organization, probably the highest she found by now. She didn't know anything about him other than that, only that he was feared as much as he was respected; maybe they would get lucky with him.

Finding him was a stroke of luck, Diana admitted. One of the Ten Rings bases in Afghanistan, a large warehouse in Kabul, had exploded. Probably the result of badly stored bombs or something like that, but it caused a fire and a commotion and with everybody's eyes fixed on the country, it called attention. Natalia gave her the tip and she was able to arrive first. And for once, her interrogation was successful, when one of the terrorists said Temujin's name.

She didn't know if it would be enough, but she hoped so. Each day Tony stayed in captivity, was a day he was closer to death. She couldn't, _wouldn't_ , allow that to happen.

Diana was so distracted with her worries, that she only heard the footsteps when they were close to her. Drawing her sword, Diana blurred to the direction she heard the sound, ready to fight whoever it was; only to stop the blade inches away from the man responsible.

"My, my, you are getting careless. What if I was suspicious person?"

Very slowly, Diana closed her eyes, sighing; then, she pulled her sword back, sheathing it again.

"I can hardly imagine anyone more suspicious, Stick," Diana answered, opening her eyes again.

The man in front of her was old. Grey hair under his rugged cap, wrinkled face, dark glasses covering his blind eyes and a long cane in his hands, to help him walk. The very picture of a harmless, blind old man, the kind of person no one would look twice or feel anything but pity for him.

That was a mistake.

Stick was a very, _very_ dangerous man. A skilled warrior with no qualms about dismembering and killing his enemies with that katana he carried with him, not even remotely impaired by his blindness or old age; in fact, when they met, years ago, Stick was already old. Not old as Diana was, of course, but for a human? Someone his age would never be capable of moving the way he did or doing the things he could.

It was funny that Natalia had met a warrior capable of manipulating chi, because Stick was a fine example of how dangerous a warrior could become when he was trained to do that.

"You are breaking my heart, your Highness," Stick said, his rough voice full of sarcasm, as he clutched his chest. "Here I was, so happy to see you. Well, maybe not so much seeing, but your perfume…" He made a big scene of smelling the air. "Still _literally_ divine."

Diana usually had no patience for Stick's games and that day she had even less.

"I tried to get in touch with you almost a month ago!" she roared, getting closer. "Where were you?!"

"Here and there," Stick answered, not intimidated at all. "Mostly there."

"This is not funny, Stick," Diana cut him. "Someone's life is at stake here!"

"Stark's kid, I know," he said. "Got himself kidnapped, I heard."

"By the Ten Rings," Diana agreed. "That's why I needed your help. I thought the Chaste would know something about it. But it's hard to ask when _you don't answer my messages!_ "

Diana was this close from doing something impulsive, but Stick was saved by whatever she might've done when one of the terrorists woke up. She didn't even know how the man could've woken up so soon after being beaten up by her or if he even knew what was happening, but at the moment she didn't care. Turning fast, she kicked one of the huge crates, making the big wooden box slide fast through the warehouse, until it crashed strongly against the man, crushing him against the wall.

"I gotta say, you are more violent than I remembered," Stick mentioned, tilting his head when he heard the man yell in pain. "I like it."

"If I were you, I wouldn't," Diana warned.

"Come now, your Highness, do you really think I would just ignore your calls?" Stick said, turning to her.

"You _did_ ignore my calls."

"Well, maybe, but I already knew what you wanted," he conceded.

"So? Do you know something useful?" Diana asked, quickly.

"I do. The location of a man named Temujin," Stick said.

Diana closed her eyes and fists for a moment, trying to control herself.

"I already have Temujin," she said, between her teeth.

"Of course you do, you sent your little girls after him," Stick said, snapping his fingers. "You know, one of these days you and I should organize a playdate for the children. I'll take my violent and dangerous kids, you take yours–"

"Focus!" she interrupted. "And you are the last person on Earth who should be raising children!"

"Now you sound like the boy…" he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, who do you think gave you the tip about Temujin, your Highness? Do you think their warehouse just exploded like that and you were lucky enough to find someone there with valuable knowledge that you could extract with your lasso?"

That gave her pause.

"You did that?" she asked.

"Like I said, I already knew what you wanted," Stick answered. "I could go search for it or I could spend valuable time chatting on the phone. I made my choice."

Diana stared at him for a moment. "Thank you," she said, legitimately surprised. "I just hope he knows something useful about Tony's location."

"He doesn't," Stick answered immediately, making her turn fast to look at him.

"He doesn't?" Diana repeated, not sure she had heard correctly.

"Nope," he stated. "I doubt anyone other than the cell that took Stark Junior and Mandarin himself know about it."

"Then why did you waste my time with this?!"

"Because, your Highness, this isn't about what Temujin knows, it's about _who he is_ ," he said, walking to her. "He is Mandarin's son."

For the second time, Diana was speechless.

* * *

 **Afghanistan - March 25** **th** **, 2010**

Tony Stark could be considered a workaholic, to the point that he had to be dragged from his lab sometimes, but even he was surprised by how much he and Yinsen pushed themselves on the past month. The threat of whatever was hunting the Ten Rings was enough to make the terrorists guarding their cell shake with fear and, in turn, make them quite unwilling to stay there until the fabled Godkiller arrived, whatever it was.

So they worked. And worked, and worked and then worked some more, sacrificing rest and even sleep to haste their escape plans.

And haste it they did. The weapons they were provided were quickly disassembled and repurposed. The raw material was put to use, the steel was cut and them welded together, the simple computer code to run the programs of the armor was written. Their escape plan was taking form: the form of a suit of armor, one that hopefully would be enough to get them out of there.

But of course, not everything was going okay. Their captors expected a Jericho missile and no matter how well they disguised the armor, it would never look like one; and yet, the materials were disappearing. Tony had even considered building a replica of the missile, just for show, but decided against it, since they were already pressed for time.

Maybe he should've, Tony thought, when someone knocked at their door.

He and Yinsen traded a look, before stop working and putting their hands on their heads, as the terrorists entered their cell with their guns pointed at them. The same man who talked to them the other times entered, but this time he didn't seem to be in charge; a bald man, entering behind him, was.

Tony could sense immediately that this one was dangerous.

The man walked to the middle of the cell, looking at them, then said: "Relax."

Slowly, Tony put his hands down, as the man approached him slowly. Raising his hand, he touched the arc reactor on his chest, very carefully.

"The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology," the man said, as Tony did his best not to push his hand out of his chest. "It allowed the great Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great and four times the size of the Roman Empire."

As he talked, the man walked through their lab, touching their tools; until he finally grabbed the blueprints of the suit of armor. Tony tried to remain calm, knowing that the only way for him to see the drawing was to press all the pages together, but his heart was beating fast.

"But today," the man continued, lifting the blueprints, "whoever holds the latest Stark weapons rules these lands."

Tony glanced at Yinsen, incredibly tense as the man fiddled with his blueprints, only to receive a subtle signal for him not to do anything; after a second, he put them down again. He had to hold himself back not to sigh in relief.

"And soon, it will be our turn," the man finished, turning to look at them again.

He started walking again, staring at Tony like a hungry tiger. And still staring at him, he spoke something in a language Tony couldn't understand. Yinsen, looking incredibly nervous, said something back. They began to talk and Tony would've given anything to understand what was being said, because it didn't look good.

His theory was confirmed when the soldiers grabbed Yinsen and made him kneel; the bald man went to their fire, turning back to them with a pair of pliers holding a blazing coal.

Yep, that wasn't good at all.

"What does he want?" Tony asked, his heart beating so fast it hurt. They forced Yinsen's head down and the man approached. "What's going on?!"

The man asked a question. Yinsen answered something, fast, and Tony could only understand the word "Jericho". The man yelled the same question and Yinsen answered the same thing, even faster. The blazing coal was close to Yinsen's face.

"What do you want? A delivery date?" Tony said, walking to them, but suddenly every weapon in the room was pointed at him; he stopped. There was a tense few seconds, as he stared at the man. "I need him. Good assistant."

The coal was dropped by the side of Yinsen's face.

"You have until tomorrow to assemble my missile," the man threatened, throwing the pliers down.

Well, it wasn't like they were planning to sleep anyway.

* * *

 **Kabul, Afghanistan - March 25** **th** **, 2010**

"His son?!" Diana exclaimed, surprised. "Temujin is Mandarin's son?"

"Every Emperor needs an heir," Stick nodded, "and you have his heir by the balls now."

"How can you be so sure?" Diana asked.

"The Chaste has been dealing with threats coming from K'un-Lun for quite some time, your Highness. Information is everything in war."

Diana began to smile.

"Then all we have to do is exchange the prisoners," she said.

Stick walked around for a bit, using his cane to poke the head of an unconscious terrorist.

"That would be my advice," Stick said. "But expect a hard bargain. Even if Stark Junior's kidnapping was not ordered by the Mandarin, he won't throw away such a prize so easily."

"What do you mean?" Diana asked. "How do you know he didn't order Tony's capture?"

"Easy, he is not prepared for war yet," Stick answered. "Grabbing Junior is a bold move, for sure, but a move that makes every eye on the face of the Earth to look at them. Armies everywhere, intelligence agencies, criminals, yourself, the Chaste, the Hand… This move painted a huge target on the Ten Rings and they aren't prepared yet for this kind of attention." He looked at her. "But the damage is already done, so don't expect him to release Junior so easily now."

"But I have his son!"

"A weak heir is worse than no heir at all, your Highness. Temujin was defeated and captured, he lost his value." He tilted his head. "Still, I'm sure you'll think of something."

Approaching her, he took something from his pockets, giving it to her. It was a small Chinese scroll; she couldn't help but notice that it was stained with blood.

"Here, take this," he said. "It's how the high members of the Ten Rings contact him, it makes a connection in the Astral Dimension. Open it and he will know you want a word with him."

And saying this, Stick turned and started walking; he stopped, looking at her.

"Oh, and remember, you owe me one," he said. "Good luck with your rescuing mission, Diana. We'll see each other again."

Diana sighed; being in Stick's debt wasn't a good thing, but at least he gave her something useful. Lifting the scroll, Diana glanced at it for a second, before opening it. There was nothing written on it, but she could fell the magic imbued in the scroll. And a second later, the whole thing burst into flames.

For a moment, Diana didn't exactly know what to expect, just looking at the burning scroll, the black smoke rising fast. Then, the magic powering up again, the black smoke started to move by its own, reassembling itself in the form of a person.

Diana couldn't tell any significant thing about his appearance, being simply a person-shaped form, but she immediately knew she was looking at the Mandarin. They both stared at each other for a moment.

" _Diana, Daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, Heiress of Olympus_ ," Mandarin said, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. " _I have been expecting you._ "

Mandarin. The wielder of the Ten Rings, leader of the organization with the same name, Ruler of the East and Conqueror of the West. And, somehow, a man who knew exactly who she was, down to her very lineage.

A dangerous man indeed; but so was she.

"You have something of mine," Diana said, going straight to the point. "I want him back."

" _Yes, you have made that abundantly clear when you killed my soldiers and captured my son,_ " he countered. " _We are at war. So why should I release such a valuable asset?_ "

"Because you know I have your son," Diana stated, approaching the smoke form.

" _Temujin allowed himself to be captured. And he did not even have the courtesy to be defeated by you, a descendant of gods, but by your underlings. He proved himself unworthy. Why would I want him back?_ "

It was exactly as Stick said, Diana thought, her eyes hard. How could a man sacrifice his own son like that she would never know, but it didn't matter right now.

"You misunderstood," Diana said, serious. "I'm not threatening the life of your son, I'm threatening _you_! Temujin's death might mean nothing to you, but his life means a lot. Soon, I'll have him within my grasp and I will learn from him _everything_ about the Ten Rings and you. And then, Mandarin, I'm coming for you." Diana didn't blink as she spoke, her blue eyes fixed on him as she approached even closer. "Trust me, that's a fight you won't win."

For a long time, neither of them spoke. They simply stared at each other, measuring their strength, trying to gauge each other's weaknesses. Diana knew that this was a risk, but Mandarin was a man who understood only power. If she showed even a bit of weakness, Tony was as good as dead.

" _Give me your word, compelled by the Lasso of Hestia, that you will release Temujin without interrogate him and I will give you Stark's location._ "

Ignoring the fact that he also knew about her Lasso, Diana grabbed the golden rope.

"I'll release Temujin without interrogating him, as long as you give me Tony's location and the guarantee that he will be alive and unharmed when I come for him," Diana said, holding the lasso.

Mandarin stared deeply into her eyes and Diana knew, without a doubt, that she had made a terrible enemy when he revealed the coordinates of where Tony was being held.

" _I would hurry, if I were you,_ " Mandarin said, as his form began to disappear. " _I gave the order to purge the camp by tomorrow._ "

Diana snarled and struck the smoke with her sword when she heard a laugh, but she was already running; Tony had little time left.

* * *

 **Afghanistan - March 26** **th** **, 2010**

Tony hammered the hot steel, his entire body glistening with sweat. His muscles were burning and he was beyond tired, but the adrenalin was flowing through his veins, so much that the very thought of remaining still was absurd.

Today was _the_ day. The day they would either escape or die trying.

He immersed the steel in the water, feeling the steam hit his face. And then, holding it with a pair of pliers, he put the last piece of the armor on the table, in front of Yinsen: the still smoking mask.

Tony could honestly say that he never imagined himself doing what he was about to do. As he prepared himself with Yinsen's help, covering his hands with tape and thick gloves, his chest with a leather jacket and his neck with a leather protection, Tony considered if that was how soldiers felt when they were about to enter a battle.

Suddenly, war wasn't about theory and numbers anymore.

Yinsen helped him to put the armor, using the mechanized stand to lift the heavy pieces as they began to take form around Tony's body.

"Okay? Can you move?" Yinsen asked, his voice as tense as Tony felt; he nodded, flexing his hands, as Yinsen began to lock the parts shut. "Okay, say it again."

"41 steps straight ahead. Then 16 steps, that's from the door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right," Tony recited, for the hundredth time, mapping his exit in his mind.

There was no way around that. The armor he made was crude, hard to move and the place was crawling with armed terrorists. And, of course, the caves they were in were a true maze. If he made one wrong turn, he would probably never get out.

Yinsen continued to fit together the armor parts, working fast, the sound of tools echoing in their cell as Stark waited, unable to move. The program he wrote for the suit was being loaded, slowly than they'd like, just a simple thing to control some of the armor's parts; simple, yet necessary, if he wanted a suit of armor better than the ones they had during the Dark Ages. Each small part of the armor was being put together over his body, so he could fight his way out.

Tony Stark was sweating more than he ever had in his life and it wasn't just because of the heat.

Suddenly, there were knocks on the door; he and Yinsen almost had a heart attack.

"Yinsen, Yinsen! Stark!" someone yelled.

His eyes were fixed on Yinsen's face and he felt like a useless turtle stuck upside down trapped in his armor, as Yinsen continued to put the parts together, not even looking at the door.

"Say something!" Tony whispered, as the men continue to yell. "Say something back to him!"

"H-He's speaking Hungarian, I don't–"

"Then speak Hungarian!" Tony countered.

"Okay, I know…" Yinsen began, probably trying to remember the words.

"What do you know?" Tony asked, fast, more tense than ever. The yelling at the door didn't stop for a moment.

Then Yinsen yelled something back, in Hungarian. It didn't work at all. Tony closed his eyes, knowing what was about to happen. And just like he knew they would, the men forced their way into the cell.

Only to activate the booby-trapped door.

The explosion was massive, even more than he imagined because they were inside the cave. The heat alone was enough to make Tony feel as if the flames licked his face, but his math was correct, as always, and the bomb only harmed the people close to the door and no one else.

But it did alert the entire place that they were trying to escape.

"How did that work?" Tony asked, trying to distract himself for a moment.

"Oh, my goodness…" Yinsen whispered, looking at the damage. "It worked alright."

"That's what I do," Tony bragged, even without being able to turn his head and look, because he was still trapped into an unmoving armor.

"Let me finish this," Yinsen said, screwing the chest part together.

"Initialize the power sequence," Tony said, knowing they didn't have time to put everything as it should be.

"Okay," Yinsen answered, nervous, going to the computer.

"Now!" Tony hurried him.

"Tell me, tell me!"

"Function 11, tell me when you see the progress bar! It should be up right now," Tony said, feeling beyond trapped in that thing now. "Talk to me, tell me when you see it!"

"I have it!"

"Press control 'I'."

"Got it!"

"'I'. 'Enter', 'I' and 'Enter'! Now come over here and button me up!"

They could hear the yelling outside and they knew that at any minute dozens of armed terrorists would show up to kill them. There was no time.

"Every other hex bolt," Tony said. "Nothing pretty, just get it done."

"They're coming!" Yinsen yelled, but didn't stop to work. "They're coming!"

Yes, Tony was aware of that, but panicking wouldn't help, or so he kept repeating in his mind.

"Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you follow me out, okay?" he said, remembering Yinsen of the plan.

"We need more time…" Yinsen whispered, looking at the computer. He looked at Tony. "Hey, I'm going to go buy you sometime."

"Stick to the plan!" Tony yelled, desperately, losing the illusion of calm he had crafted. Yinsen ignored him and grabbed the rifle from one of the dead terrorists. "STICK TO THE PLAN! Yinsen!"

Tony trashed against the armor, hearing Yinsen firing his rifle. That idiot! Why was he doing this? All he had to do was stick to the damn plan and things would work out! Anxious, he looked at the loading bar, cursing at how slow it was moving. In the distance, he could hear yelling and shooting. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply, seriously considering, maybe for the first time, the idea of praying. To anyone that would listen.

Sighing, he opened his eyes and looked at the loading bar. If he would do something as useless as expecting the help of some god, he might as well just watch the damn computer.

* * *

Diana was running through the desert so fast that her feet were leaving a sandstorm behind her. The Quinjet took her close to the coordinates the Mandarin gave her, but she was afraid of flying too close and alerting them with the noise; it was an invisible ship, both to eyes and to radars, but it still could be heard, especially in an empty desert.

Gone was her black suit, the Amazon armor glowing under the sun. The last thing in Diana's mind right now was to remain unnoticed. The Ten Rings already knew Godkiller was hunting them, so she would give them something to worry about.

She could see a set of mountains appearing in front of her; that was the place.

* * *

The lights in the lab turned off when the loading bar reached 100%; the sound of metal moving echoed in the room. The terrorists arrived running, yelling at the same time in several languages, their steps loud in the silent room. Tony flexed his fingers, waiting, still in the same place.

And when the terrorist got close enough that he could see his terrified eyes under the blue light of the arc reactor, he moved.

The metal gauntlet of the armor hit the man with bone-crushing strength, sent him flying through the lab. Scared, the terrorists began to shoot everywhere, caring little about who they could hit. He waited, his heart beating fast in his chest.

The rifles stopped.

Moving as fast as he could, Tony maneuvered that metal behemoth until he was in front of his captors and lunged against them, the armor breaking their bodies when they were tossed against the walls. Bullets rained against him, deflected by the sheer thickness of the suit, and he just walked to the last man firing and crushed him.

For the first time since he was captured, Tony felt powerful again. These men would pay.

Ignoring the gunshots, Tony began to walk down the corridor, counting the steps as best as he could in his mind, as much to distract himself as to assure that he wouldn't get lost. The place was dark and he could barely see through that crude mask, but the adrenalin pulsing within him didn't allow him to think too much about that.

Lifting his arm with barely concealed delight, Tony hammered his fist against the terrorist shooting against him, immediately punching another in the chest, imagining in each one of them the faces of the men who tortured him. The terrorists were running away from him now, fleeing the blue light in the dark and the heavy steps of the armor, as Tony advanced, until they desperately closed a steel door to seal the corridor, leaving an unlucky one behind.

Tony almost smiled when he grabbed the man and used smashed him against the door, denting it. Stopping right in front of it, he raised both his arms and started to punch it, unleashing all his frustration against the metal door.

And suddenly, the door was tossed far away, crushing a terrorist under it, while the rest of them ran away.

* * *

Diana heard gunshots.

They were muffled, probably underground, but she could hear them clearly now and that wasn't good. Mandarin told her he had ordered a purge in the camp and she knew he wasn't lying, but what could he gain by killing Tony now? Temujin was still in her possession and if his end of the bargain was not kept, she wouldn't keep hers as well.

Something weird was happening there and she didn't know what.

Reaching the rock formations, Diana jumped all the way up, using her hands and feet to carve her way up. She could hear yelling now and more firing, but there weren't army troops close or aircrafts around. Finally getting to the top of the mountain, she looked down, seeing the camp.

Seeing the terrorist raising their guns and pointing them towards the caves, instead of pointing them to an attacking force, as if something was making its way out.

* * *

Tony smashed a fleeing terrorist with such strength that his arm got stuck in the wall. Well, that was great, he thought, trying to pull his arm back. He didn't even notice a terrorist approaching slowly, his pistol pointed at his head.

Only when the man fired and the bullet ricocheted back at the terrorist's head that Tony noticed something happened; any other day, he would've laughed about it.

Finally releasing his arm, Tony began his escape again, moving towards the exit. He still hadn't come across any signs of Yinsen and he was beginning to get worried. Was it possible that he had escaped? There was no body anywhere and the guards were running scared. Maybe, maybe he had…

He froze when he turned the corridor, seeing Yinsen covered in blood.

"Yinsen!"

"Watch out!" Yinsen yelled, his voice weak.

Tony moved at the last second, feeling the missile passing inches from his face and exploding behind him. Snarling behind his mask, he quickly opened his gauntlet and activated his own missile, firing almost blindly it at the direction the shot came from.

It was only when his missile exploded, the stones collapsing over the man that fired, that he noticed it was the same bald bastard that had threatened him before. Good riddance.

Not even looking at him again, Tony went to Yinsen.

"Stark," Yinsen said, almost too weak to talk.

Tony removed the mask and looked at him.

"Come on, we got to go," he said, even knowing very well that Yinsen wasn't going anywhere in that state. "Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We're going to stick to it."

Yinsen just smiled at him, eyes almost closed. No, come on, Tony thought, rage and despair filling him. He felt useless, just as he felt when his parents died and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"This was always the plan, Stark," Yinsen muttered.

"Come on, you're gonna go see your family. Get up!" Tony urged.

"My family is dead," Yinsen whispered. "I'm going to see them now, Stark." Tony just stared, shocked, incapable of saying anything. "It's okay. I want this… I want this."

He exhaled, feeling his eyes burning, then he stared at Yinsen for one last time.

"Thank you for saving me."

"D-Don't waste it," Yinsen begged. "Don't waste your life."

And then he closed his eyes.

Tony breathed deeply, feeling a multitude of emotions fill him. He looked to the exit; fury would do for now.

* * *

There was something heavy exiting the caves. Diana could hear its steps echoing in the mountain, the clank of metal, the dust trembling. The Ten Rings soldiers were lined up, pointing their rifles to the cave, barely concealed fear on their expressions.

A blue circle glowed in the dark cave.

Diana widened her eyes when she saw what exited the cave. A huge metal armor, walking slowly and robotically, with a small blue arc glowing in its chest. For a moment, she didn't know what to think; then her mind clicked.

"Tony!" she whispered. Only a Stark would ever do such a thing.

The terrorists began to fire. The hail of bullets hit the metal armor, bouncing ineffectively against it and falling down; Diana, however, wasn't about to wait and see if that metal monstrosity Tony built could resist them all.

Grabbing her sword and shield, she jumped from the top of the mountain, falling fast, the terrorists still shooting. The bullets seemed harmless enough, but they had managed to pin down Tony. Until she finally clashed against the ground, shield first.

The entire ground trembled when she landed, lifting a wave of dust so thick that no one but her could see properly. The terrorists fell down, yelling in terror, firing everywhere in their panic. She could see when their bullets hit their companions, as she dodged some, beginning to attack them.

If there was panic before, now it reached its full potential.

* * *

Tony didn't have a clue about what the hell was happening. As he exited the cave, ready to kill them all, he was received by a storm of bullets, just as he knew he would. That was expected. What he didn't expect was seeing _something_ fall from the mountain upon the terrorists, lifting a cloud of dust so dense that made seeing anything impossible, especially through that mask of his.

One word appeared in his mind: Godkiller.

Was that the thing that was hunting the Ten Rings? What the hell was it? A new weapon? He squinted his eyes, trying to see something, but it was impossible. He could only hear gunshots and screams, weird slashing noises; one terrorist was launched from the cloud, clashing against the mountain. Tony had no idea what was happening, but it didn't matter anyway.

Not when he would burn everything in sight.

"My turn!" he said, powering his flamethrowers.

* * *

Diana had barely a second to realize what was happening, then everything was engulfed in flames. She widened her eyes as the fire reached her, feeling the heat surround her body at the same time as the people around began to scream desperately. Everything was burning.

Well, she wasn't, of course, but she was the only one.

"Starks!" she muttered, finally seeing the source of the flames.

Tony was walking forward, both arms lifted as fire poured from his gauntlets, swallowing everything in its way. He was probably not even seeing what he was attacking, but in his situation she couldn't exactly blame him. The weapons around them began to catch fire along everything else, sparks beginning to fly, and Diana understood what was about to happen.

She could only see Tony launching up to the sky like a rocket when everything exploded.

* * *

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!" Tony yelled, when his thrusters failed.

Everything was working so well! Until it suddenly wasn't. He managed to fly up, fleeing the generalized war in that terrorist camp, the suit of armor performing exactly as he predicted. And then, out of nowhere, systems began to fail. The desert approached _fast_ and Tony held his breath, feeling a deep cold in his body.

Then he landed.

Well, crashed was more like it, but details were just that, details. The armor sustained the brunt of the impact, but he felt it, no different than a car crash. Sand was tossed everywhere, pieces of his armor rained from the sky and he was practically buried in sand.

Desperately, Tony began to flail around, eyes closed, trying to dig himself out. His mouth was filled with disgusting sand and the pieces of armor were stuck to him, making moving around difficult. But slowly, patiently, he got out. For a moment, he felt overjoyed, despite everything bad that had happened. He did it! He escaped! And he was alive!

Then he looked around, seeing himself surrounded by sand until his eyes could see; maybe he should wait a little bit to celebrate.

* * *

"I can't believe it!" Tony said, panting, feeling his tongue swelling up in his mouth. "I can't fucking believe it!"

He escaped captivity. He made a suit of armor and fought his way out of a place surrounded with armed terrorists. He survived torture, bombs, bullets and even crashing from the sky in high speed.

And now he was pretty sure he would die of thirst.

How pitiful was that? His legs were tired as he advanced through the sand without a clue as to where he should go. He vaguely remembered Rhodey mentioning a base somewhere to West, but truth was he was moving blindly and the sun was cooking him alive. And without water, food or rest, well… Tony could do the math of how long he would last in these conditions, but somehow he just didn't want to.

For how long had he been walking? Three hours? Five? Tony had absolutely no idea, but he was beginning to get dizzy. He spent days working like crazy, barely sleeping and eating badly and the fight for his life had drained him pretty quickly of his last energies. Walking through the desert was _not_ what he needed right now.

He only realized that his legs had given up when crashed face first against the sand, his mouth filling again with the horrid stuff. For a moment, he just stood there, resting for a bit, then he tried to get up; his body didn't obey. Well, now he was truly and well fucked, he thought, trying to at least lift his head, feeling his vision darkening.

That's when he saw her.

Tony was pretty sure he was hallucinating. The heat, the sun and the lack of water did that to a person. But no matter how damaged his brain was at that point, it didn't change the fact that he _was_ seeing someone approaching him. A woman.

The most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

She kneeled by his side, turning him up, as she helped him drink the most delicious water he ever tasted. He could actually feel his throat becoming less coarse and some life flowing into him. He opened his eyes again.

The woman was lovely, glowing in the sun with her sparkling blue eyes; eyes that gazed at him with care and worry. Huh… It had been a while since he saw someone looking at him like that. So he spoke the first thing that came to mind.

"Are you an angel?" he whispered, his voice rough.

She just smiled, caressing his face.

"Don't worry, I got you now," the woman promised.

Surprisingly enough, Tony wasn't worried at all at that moment.

* * *

 **Hey, guys, how are you doing? New chapter! Hope you like it. Review, favorite, follow… Thanks for everything!**


	17. Chapter 17 - News From the Front

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 17 – News From the Front**

 **U.S Air Force Aircraft – March 28** **th** **, 2010**

Tony felt as if he was slowly emerging to the surface of a very deep sea. The waters were getting warmer, the darkness was fading and at each moment he felt closer to his destination, until the white light of the sun was so strong that he could barely look at it. And then, right outside the water, he saw her. Only a shadow, at first, but as he got closer her shape was becoming clearer and clearer until his eyes could only stare at her face.

The face of the angel, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She extended her hand, smiling at him, her face close to the water; Tony felt her fingers brushing his, helping him, encouraging him. Then, with one last movement, he was out of the water, surrounded by pure light, quickly opening his eyes so he could gaze one more time at the woman who had saved him.

Except that, instead of finding the angel right in front of him when he opened his eyes, Tony saw only Rhodey, his friend's wide eyes inches away from his face.

"AHHH!" Tony yelled, trying to jump back, at the same time that Rhodey also yelled, frightened, recoiling fast. He breathed hard for a few moments, trying to calm down. "What the hell! Please tell me nobody kissed me!"

"Nobody kissed you!" Rhodey answered, immediately, also trying to catch his breath.

"Good, good…" Tony mumbled, relieved, doing his best to lower his heartbeat. He opened his eyes, seeing the metal room he was in. A plane? "Where are we?"

"Almost arriving home," Rhodey said, getting closer again. He was smiling. "It's damn good to see you alive, Tony."

Tony looked at him for a second, honestly surprised at how much his expression seemed to agree with his words. As flattered as he was, Tony couldn't help but to feel a little embarrassed, not that he would ever admit it.

"Well, it's good to be alive," he retorted. He sat down on his very uncomfortable bed and looked around. "Where is she?"

There was a second of silence.

"Who?" Rhodey asked.

"What do you mean 'who'?" Tony said, as if it was obvious; in his opinion, it was. "The woman! You know, tall, gorgeous, found me dying in the middle of the desert. Ring a bell?"

There was another second of silence.

"Tony, there was no one with you," Rhodey said, slowly, sounding worried. His friend looked around, nervous, as if searching for help.

Tony sat straighter, staring at Rhodey. What did he mean by that?

"What do you mean 'there was no one with me'?" he asked. "I was dying, she saved my life!"

"Tony…" He did not like that tone, like a crossbreed between pity and condescending. "You went through a lot, Tony. You spent a month under captivity and then you almost died in the desert. Sometimes… Sometimes, when we are tired and wounded, we see things that aren't really there."

"I know more about the effects of dehydration on the human body than all the people in this plane put together, Rhodey, so just don't!" Tony interrupted. "I know what I saw! I couldn't have survived in the middle of the desert by myself!"

"You didn't," Rhodey answered, immediately. "You passed out. We were lucky to find you when one of our planes passed over you."

That… That couldn't be right, Tony was certain of it. He saw her, he was sure! Or was he?

"I-I…"

"Tony, look at me," Rhodey said, touching his shoulder. "You got out. You did something _no one_ could've done and you saved yourself. Don't let a few sun-induced hallucinations spoil that. You're safe now."

Tony sighed. Rhodey, as usual, was missing the point. Of course Tony was happy he was alive, that he managed to get out of that hellish place more or less unscathed. But he also knew that he did not do that alone and it irked him that everyone thought he did; Tony could be arrogant, but he did so because he had reason to. This time, he didn't.

Yinsen died to help him escape. If he was honest with himself, that was something he never imagined it would happen. Who in their right mind would sacrifice themselves for him? Did he even deserve that? That was a question he was sincerely afraid to answer.

And, of course, there was the woman, the one Rhodey was sure he had hallucinated. Could he have imagined a beautiful woman during a heatstroke? Sure, why not, his brain could've certainly conjured some long lost memory to give him a little peace of mind during such a difficult time.

What his brain couldn't have done, no matter how brilliant it was, was hallucinate the events _before_ he was dying in the desert.

For a second there, Tony was really worried that Rhodey might've been right, he was ashamed to admit, but soon enough he remembered what happened during his escape. Something, _someone_ , attacked the terrorists while he was leaving the caves. He didn't see what or who it was, but he knew, with absolute certainty, that it was real and it was killing the members of the Ten Rings. And as soon as he remembered that, a word resonated inside his mind.

Godkiller.

That was what Yinsen had said. The "who" and the "what" that was hunting the Ten Rings for some reason. The reason why they hurried their project, working almost nonstop. Yinsen didn't know anything about this "Godkiller" other than ghost stories and for a long while Tony thought that was all it was.

Except ghost stories don't suddenly appear in front of you, killing people.

Tony had no idea what this "Godkiller" was, but he knew it was real. And he knew, without a doubt, that it had something to do with him being alive. Despite his ego, Tony recognized his limits and he was aware that he would not have survived much longer in that desert. The woman saved his life.

If she was the infamous Godkiller or at least connected to it, Tony didn't know. But he owed her his life.

"Tony," Rhodey said, touching his shoulder again. He looked worried. "We're almost home. Try to rest a little bit."

"I just woke up," he replied, raising a single eyebrow.

"Well, sure, but you look a little—"

"Crazy?" Tony said, almost challenging him.

"I was going to say tired, but if you want to go with that…"

"I might as well sleep, if the alternative is being mercilessly mocked!" Tony answered, in fake anger. He pretended to think. "Unless this plane has strippers, of course."

Rhodey smiled, probably perceiving the joke as a good sign.

"It's not a Stark plane, Tony. We don't have sashimi or hot sake or strippers."

"It's no wonder military people seem so tense, Rhodey."

* * *

 **Washington, DC, Peggy Carter's Apartment -** **March 28** **th** **, 2010**

"So what you are saying," Natalia started, after Diana explained how Tony had escaped, "is that Stark made us waste a month of our lives while searching for him and then decided to escape on his own?"

Well, Diana wouldn't exactly put it like that, but she couldn't very well disagree completely.

"We helped!" Diana defended. "And he didn't just 'decide to escape on his own' to spite us, he thought help wouldn't arrive and he took his chance!" Natalia just kept staring at her. "He would've died in the desert if not for us!"

"I'm sure," Natalia deadpanned.

Diana just rolled her eyes as Peggy chuckled, accepting the tea her old friend was serving them.

"In my experience," Peggy said, filling Natalia's cup, "Starks are exceptional in the art of creating trouble and then escaping the consequences by a hair's breadth." She opened a bag of biscuits and poured them over a plate. "I lost count of the times I had to help Howard, just to find out my services were not needed."

"We were needed!" Diana insisted, but Peggy completely ignored her.

Despite the jokes, Diana truly was relieved that Tony was finally safe. It had not been an easy month, not only because she had to scour the world looking for clues, but because old nightmares decided to come back. Guilt for not being able to protect Howard and Maria, for not being there when her friend needed her the most. And just the thought of failing his son as well made Diana sick.

It was a good thing Starks really were resourceful.

Diana sighed and sipped her tea; she was exhausted. Not physically, it took a lot to tire her, but she felt she could sleep for a whole week.

"So, tell me," Peggy started, finally sitting down, "how exactly did Tony make an armor built from repurposed weapon's parts, put it on, and simply walked out? Because I am pretty sure an armor like that would be beyond heavy, if it was strong enough to resist bullets. And as far as I know, he has a little too much beard to be an Amazon."

She smiled, amused for a second by the thought of Tony in an Amazon armor, then looked at Peggy.

"He finished it," Diana said, feeling strangely proud. "Howard's Arc Reactor. Tony made it work."

Peggy's shocked expression mirrored Diana's when she saw the blue glow coming out from Tony's chest. Of course, for a moment, she almost freaked out when she saw the thing buried in his ribcage, but the fear passed when she noticed it was there on purpose; at the time, she couldn't understand why the hell he would do such a thing, and in fact she would only understand its true purpose after Natalia provided her information from the medical team that examined him, but the surprise that took her wasn't only because of where the device was implanted.

She was surprised when she understood what it was.

Howard had the idea to build an arc reactor back in WWII, when he began to study the energy flow inside the Tesseract. He believed, back then, that it could be the key to unlimited energy, something that would prove itself a true marvel to humanity. Eventually, after the war was over, Howard did build one, but it's potential was severely lacking, at least compared to what he thought it could be.

Tony Stark changed that. And he did it while in captivity, inside a cave. It took a lot to impress Diana these days, but he had done so.

"How did he manage to do that inside a hole?" Peggy asked, eyes wide.

"I really don't know," Diana answered, then she looked at Natalia. "Nat told me the medical team discovered that the arc reactor was put there to keep him alive. Apparently, during his capture, Tony was hit with shrapnel and whoever treated him couldn't take them all out."

"So he put a magnet in his chest, to keep them away from his heart," Peggy finished, grasping the concept. "This is… I have no words. The armor is impressive, sure, but this? It's unprecedented."

"And a risk," Natalia said. Diana and Peggy turned to her. "If people hear about this, well… Stark already has a target big enough on his back. This is just extra incentive to kidnap him again."

"I trust Nick is keeping things on a need to know basis?" Peggy asked.

"Always. And he has Coulson keeping an eye on him," Natalia answered, then sighed. "But knowing Stark, the first thing he'll do is call a press conference and take his shirt off, to show the whole world just how great he is."

Diana wanted to disagree with that, but she could see Howard doing exactly that if he were in Tony's position. Peggy, apparently, thought the same, by the grimace on her face.

"Well, we'll just have to protect him better," Diana said, after a while. She sipped her tea again, shuddering at how cold is was. "Oh, Peggy, thanks for explaining my absence to the museum. I like working there."

"How did you explain her disappearance for a whole month?" Natalia asked, amused.

"I told them she was negotiating for a new Wakandan exhibition with an old friend," Peggy grinned. "They were all very excited, enough to promptly forgive her absence."

Diana rolled her eyes as Natalia smiled.

"So that means you'll have to borrow them some of your personal collection?" Natalia asked, probably finding everything very funny.

"So it would seem," she sighed. "Thanks a lot, Peggy."

"You are welcome!"

* * *

 **London – April 7** **th** **, 1944**

Colonel Philips watched as Captain Rogers, Diana, the Howling Commandos, Agent Carter and Stark gathered around the table, all eyes fixed on the big map on it.

"This is Auschwitz," he said, straight to the point, indicating it. "One of the biggest, if not the biggest, Death Camps the Nazis have. And right now, Schmidt and Zola's main source of subjects for their experiments."

Majdanek proved to be a well of information and Colonel Philips couldn't thank his people enough for being able to get it. The lives they saved there were a blessing, of course, but the true blessing had been the intelligence gathered, which would allow them to save much more people and maybe change the course of the war.

There would be no way to even suggest an attack like that against Auschwitz before that.

"This building over here is the target," he continued, tapping the place on the map. "The center of their facilities is underground, heavily guarded and protected. And we need to take it before they have the chance to destroy all clues leading to the Red Skull's whereabouts."

"How?" Sergeant Barnes asked. "The moment they see the troops advancing, they'll burn everything."

Colonel Philips nodded. "True. They don't have the troops to defend the place, so when they learn that the Allied forces are approaching from both fronts they'll destroy everything and retreat. That's why you won't be with the army."

That made everybody look at him.

"If not there, then where we'll be?" Diana asked, curious.

"I'm glad you asked, Princess," Stark piped up. He opened his arms dramatically. "You will be with me, flying over the clouds ahead of the Allied forces—"

"Oh, no…" Dugan muttered.

"—until the time to jump comes, of course."

It was pretty clear that this was the first time The Howling Commandos and Diana were hearing about this.

"What?!" Bucky exclaimed.

"This is crazy!" Jim Morita said.

"We'll be torn apart by bullets before we reach the ground!" Gabe Jones affirmed.

"We can only hope we die before we reach the ground," Dugan whispered again, pale.

"We're flying again?!" Diana asked hopeful, eyes wide.

"Quiet!" Agent Carter ordered and was immediately obeyed; there was a reason he like her. "You won't just jump over the Death Camp and hope for the best!"

"I'm still worried about the jump part," Dugan said, but Agent Carter's death glare made him close his mouth fast.

"We have someone inside," Captain Rogers said and, as always, everyone listened. "After we captured Majdanek and learned of the existence of the Death Camps, Peggy sent undercover agents to each and every one of them. We've been monitoring the situation."

Captain Rogers approached the map.

"He was the one who mapped the place and pointed this building as Zola's main lab," he continued. "If there is any information about Schmidt and the Tesseract, maybe even Zola himself, we'll find it here. But we'll have to be quick."

"Our man inside will create a diversion that will allow for you to land without being taken out from the sky," Agent Carter said. "But from that point onwards, you are on your own, until the Allied forces reach the place."

"We'll have to get in the building, reach the main lab fast enough to avoid the information being destroyed and defend our position," Steve said, eyes hard. "It will be tough, but I believe we can do it."

It was clear by their faces, that the Howling Commandos believed as well.

"But what about the plane?" Sergeant Barnes asked. "Won't they hear it and drop us from the sky?"

"Not if we fly high up enough," Stark explained. "It will be a bumpy ride, but my plane we'll take us there. I know it can, I built it."

"And I'll coordinate with our agent inside," Agent Carter added, "so he'll know when to start the diversion."

"How long we'll have to hold our position?" Sergeant Barnes asked, eyes fixed on the target. "And what kind of opposition are we expecting?"

"We'll be there hours before the army," Captain Rogers said, then he looked at Diana and smiled; she smiled back. "But I imagine that if we manage to fight our way in, they won't be very eager to follow us."

From what Colonel Philips heard about Majdanek's shape after Diana was done with them, he imagined the same.

"As to their defenses…" Steve went on. "According to our agent, we expecting a good amount of soldiers armed with HYDRA weaponry. "He stopped for a second, gazing at his men. "And probably, since this is Zola's lab, more of those blue abominations."

There was a sudden silence in the room and Colonel Philips couldn't exactly blame them for that. That thing they found in the last HYDRA facility was strong enough to fight Captain America and Diana. He didn't relish in the idea of fighting that either.

"Well, that's just great," Sergeant Barnes exhaled. He looked at Stark. "Do you have anything to help us kill them better? Because normal bullets bounce from that thing like pebbles on a tank."

Stark opened a big smile.

"Oh, yeah! And I'm very glad you asked!" Turning around, Stark picked a rifle from behind him and put it over the map, so everybody could see it. "I based it on HYDRA weaponry. It is a crossbreed between our rifles and theirs. It fires bullets, as you can see," he said, showing them," but with a little extra. Sergeant, if you may."

Stark gave the rifle to Sergeant Barnes and pointed to a dummy he put it the room previously. Hesitantly, Barnes picked up and aimed, everybody giving him space to shoot as they covered their own ears. And then he pulled the trigger. There was a blue flash, the loud noise of a gunshot, and the bullet hit the center of the dummy.

And just like that, the dummy exploded, the pieces turning into dust, as if the riffle had inserted a grenade into it.

"What the—" Barnes exclaimed, eyes wide. His reaction was no different than everyone's. "What is this?!"

Stark looked delighted.

"The bullets are charged with the same energy HYDRA's weapons fire," he answered. "It takes just a little bit of energy to overcharge them, since we don't have the Tesseract to just make more, but the difference is… Well, you all saw it."

"Yeah, we did," Dugan breathed, his expression beyond impressed, as was the expressions from all his companions. Rogers and Agent Carter had already seen it, but they weren't any less overwhelmed, their eyes wide at the destruction Stark's rifle made.

Diana, however, didn't seem impressed; she was looking at the rifle as if challenging it. Colonel Philips didn't even want to know what was going through her mind.

"Good enough for you?" Rogers asked his men. They all agreed, suddenly very eager. "Then let's destroy this Death Camp!"

The Howling Commandos and Diana roared back, eyes burning with courage. Colonel Philips looked at Captain Rogers, no less admired, as they left the room to prepare themselves for the mission. He still didn't know how that thin, little man turned into a leader, but he was damn glad he did.

"Agent Carter," he called, suddenly, before she could leave the room after them. "This agent of yours, are you sure he is still alive? A lot is depending on him."

Given the nature of those camps and what they did to prisoners, it was a very pertinent question. To his surprise, Agent Carter just smiled.

"Sir, if there is anything that can kill that man, it wasn't invented yet."

Colonel Philips didn't really know how to answer that.

* * *

 **Auschwitz, Poland - April 7** **th** **, 1944**

He would kill for a cigar. It didn't need to be a good one, one of those expensive brands, any cigar would do. Hell, at that point he would settle for a cheap cigarette! Anything that could dull, even for a little bit, his heightened sense of smell so he wouldn't have to constantly live with that scent of death inside his nose.

Rot, disease and fear, that's what Auschwitz smelled of and James Howlett was tired of it.

Not for the first time he questioned his decision to be there. Because it _was_ his decision, unlike most people there, he was sure, to be confined into Auschwitz. He sighed, ignoring the cold rain — and the stench — as he turned back to look at the rest of the prisoners in the field. After Captain America and the Howling Commandos came back with proof HYDRA was using the Death Camps to develop weaponry, the higher-ups suddenly saw the necessity to learn more about them; sure, the proof people were being exterminated was shocking too, but James doubted it would elicit the same kind of response if they weren't also building weapons capable of destroying entire cities.

Maybe he was turning into a cynic in his old age, but it wasn't like this was his first war. He knew how those people acted.

They needed spies. People that would willingly go into those hellholes to gather information, ignoring the threat of death and torture for the mission. Surprisingly, there _were_ people willing to do just that and they were the ones responsible for creating several resistance cells inside Auschwitz; most of the information they had came from them, after all. These groups were the ones orchestrating escapes, helping people survive and organizing eventual uprisings.

But who better to do something like this than a man too stubborn to die properly?

In normal circumstances, James probably wouldn't have volunteered for a mission like this, but it was in his best interests to keep his abilities hidden and somehow that woman, Agent Carter, knew about him. How the fuck she had found out he fought during World War I — and survived things no one should — he didn't know, but she did and she saw fit to prove she knew by shooting him and watching him get up unharmed after a few seconds.

He grinned. If she wasn't such a babe he would have been pissed, but James did like women with spirit. There was also the fact that a man in his position could never get enough good will with the right people; sooner or later, favors had to be repaid and he had a feeling that he would need them at some point in the future.

And, of course, it was the right thing to do. James didn't like to be one of the good guys, but like it or not he was, deep down, a decent man. Sure, he had done a lot of bad things during his life, but there were certain lines you didn't cross; gathering people in Death Camps for the sole purpose of mass murdering them was one of those things. If he could help them, and himself at the same time, then why the hell wouldn't he?

Something about the fact that the Nazis were choosing who lived and who died didn't sit well with him. Call him paranoid, but James was pretty certain he wouldn't be in the "living group" if the war didn't go their way.

So there he was, enduring the rain, the cold and the stench to spy for the Allies. Leading all the resistance cells inside the Death Camp and going beyond to gather more intelligence. James liked to work alone, but he wouldn't turn away help if it meant getting out sooner from that dump.

He was fed up with it. The elements, the smell, the deaths all around him… But the worst thing to endure, however, was his need to kill those bastards. James wasn't prey and forcing himself to pretend to be one was not working out so well; he felt like a caged animal. Luckily, the signal was finally here: it was time to destroy this place.

James felt it deep inside him, quite literally.

Grimacing in discomfort, he started walking back to the bathroom. Calling it a bathroom, obviously, was an exaggeration; it was a filthy place, without water or any other sort of hygiene, nothing more than a collection of toilets put together side by side. The stench alone was so much that James almost gagged every time he went there, but this time he was actually happy to go to that place; if anything, he was sure he wouldn't meet any guards there, since they couldn't stand the smell either.

The place wasn't empty, but thankfully it wasn't full of people either. Walking fast, James chose a toilet far away from the people currently occupying in the room and, grimacing again, he lowered his pants and sat down on the cold toilet; leaning forward a little bit, to hide what he was doing, James raised his shirt.

And, holding his breath, he released a single bone claw from his right hand: right inside his own stomach.

The pain was sudden and intense and no matter how many times he felt it he would never get used to it, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Moving fast and as quiet as he could, James pulled his arm and cut his own belly, the sharp bone claw making quick work of his skin and muscles, the blood flowing, and as soon as he had enough space he plunged his hand inside his own abdomen, the claw retracting as if it never existed, before his healing factor closed the wound.

When he took it out again, a grunt of relief leaving his lips, James had something held firmly between his bloody fingers.

One, two, three seconds passed. He took a deep breath, feeling his muscles healing, his skin stitching itself back together, his lost blood replenishing itself as quickly as it was shed; the pain, numbing and so very sharp, passed as fast as it came. Looking down, James looked at the mess he made on the floor, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

No, now was the time to move on with the mission, time to check the signal emitted from the small radio he'd just got out from inside his own abdomen.

The first time Agent Carter suggested that he used his own body to hide a communication device, James called her crazy. Did that woman really wanted him to stick a radio inside himself?! But as she explained her reasoning, what seemed to be the ramblings of a lunatic proved to be quite a rational suggestion. James wouldn't die from this, he wouldn't even require surgery to insert it. Infection would never be an issue and after the device was in, there wouldn't even be a scar left to show what happened.

In essence, hiding the radio inside him was not only a good idea, it was the only way to enter Auschwitz with more than his claws.

And right now, by the considerable electrical shock he felt in his guts alerting him someone was calling, Agent Carter wanted to speak to him quite urgently. God damn Stark and his inventions, only a twisted fool like him could develop a radio that shocked people when someone wanted to speak and that could withstand being bathed in blood for most of the time. Grabbing the accursed thing, James concentrated his enhanced hearing in the almost inaudible beeping, memorizing the Morse Code so he could translate it.

When the last letter was decoded, James grinned, not unlike a predator would show its teeth to its prey. It was time to let the beast out. First, though, he would need to dig his guts again for the explosives Agent Carter made him carry there.

* * *

 **Auschwitz, Poland - April 7** **th** **, 1944**

The atmosphere in the lab was even more charged than usual. He didn't understand why, but it was true nonetheless. The group of scientists were restless, moving up and down the lab with a fervor unlike anything he'd seen before. It was almost as if they were afraid of something, but what did these people had to fear? They weren't prisoners, they weren't lab rats, they weren't experiments.

Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, however, was. And if the scientists experimenting on him were afraid of something, then he probably had enough reason to be terrified.

And he was, constantly, since he ever set foot inside that version of hell; sometimes he even wondered if he really died at some point and ended up there, because the torment he experienced daily in that place was inhuman. Being separated from his family, beaten, famished and cold. Living in an almost literal pond of filth, seeing people all around him dying from hunger and disease. Watching his mother being killed right in front of his eyes.

He couldn't understand why. What had he done to deserve this? Why were they being exterminated like pests? Why were they being tortured? Why did those people treat him like he was not even human?

Maybe he wasn't human, after all. That could explain somethings. How he could bend metal at his will, for example. How he could feel it, like it was a part of himself.

Was that the reason he was there? Was it his fault his mother was killed like an animal? But what of the others outside the lab, what were their crimes? Were they freaks too? Erik couldn't understand anything anymore.

And he couldn't understand what was happening at that moment either. He was watching carefully from his little cell in the lab, as the scientists ran from one corner of the lab to the other, gathering things, burning documents, putting the equipment into huge boxes. Were they leaving? What was going on?

Before he could get any answer, he heard a commotion on the outside. Pressing his head against the cold metal bars, Erik tried to see what was going on, but the angle just didn't let him. All he could see were the scientists and guards suddenly stopping in the middle of the lab, carefully aligned side by side; weirdly enough, they seemed to be more afraid than he was.

That's when someone entered the room; Erik finally understood why they were terrified.

The man — because that's the best word Erik had to describe him politely — entered the lab slowly, very sure of his authority. Everyone else, scientists and soldiers alike, tensed like if they were in the presence of a hungry beast. But as much as the man's presence was impressive, Erik's eyes weren't wide because of it.

They were wide in fear and awe because the man had no face. Where his skin should be, there was only burnt, red flesh. Like a Red Skull.

The man stopped in the middle of the aligned scientists and waited, his eyes assessing everything.

"It is pleasing to know that we still have so many loyal men inside the Third Reich," the faceless man said. "Hail HYDRA!"

"HAIL HYDRA!" everyone responded, raising both arms.

The man smiled and turned to a shorter scientist.

"Have we made progress, Dr. Zola?" the faceless man asked.

Dr. Zola seemed scared, but excited at the same time. "Much, Herr Schmidt. Very much!" He gestured, guiding the man, Schmidt. "It's like… It's like the answers came to me in my dreams! The formulas, how to manipulate the Tesseract energy… They just appeared in my mind!"

Schmidt seemed pleased. "The gods favor those who honor them, doctor. We are doing their work. But let us see what you have accomplished."

"Yes, of course! Bring it here!" Dr. Zola ordered his scientists.

Four scientists ran to the room adjacent to fulfill his command, while the rest remained in position. Schmidt barely paid any attention to them, seemingly inspecting the lab around him. Erik watched as the deformed man walked, slowly, his eyes taking in everything; until they inevitably fixed on him.

Erik felt his breath hitch in his lungs.

"Now, what do we have here?" Schmidt asked; Erik felt like a bug under his gaze.

Dr. Zola approached excited. "Herr Schmidt, this was an amazing finding! An unidentified specimen!"

"Not human?" Schmidt questioned, interested.

"It's a human, but different. The closest term I would use to define it is 'mutant'," Dr. Zola answered, while both of them looked down on him, as if they were watching a particularly interesting animal; Erik felt his insides burning. "I still couldn't study it as well as I'd like, but it seems it is capable of generating a magnetic field. When we used the subject's progenitor to induce stress—"

It, it, it… Erik Lehnsherr was _not_ a thing. His mother was _not_ a thing! The moment he remembered his mother, seeing her face as clearly in his mind as if she were there, the entire building _trembled_. The lights flicked, the metal equipment fell, the cage rattled.

Dr. Zola recoiled fast; Schmidt, however, only grinned.

"Remarkable," he whispered, reaching out and touching his face with a gloved finger; Erik had no room to withdraw. "Are you blessed by a god as well, I wonder? It will be interesting to find out what makes you tick, child."

Erik had no idea how to answer that question or to that ominous statement, but before he could a commotion attracted their attention to the center of the lab again. The four scientists were back, sliding a huge glass container into the room; a glass container that carried a blue monstrosity straight out from Erik's darkest nightmares.

What was that thing?!

To his credit, he wasn't the only one repulsed and scared of that thing; even Dr. Zola seemed cowed as he moved close to it. The only one that seemed completely unafraid was Schmidt himself. He looked proud.

"It is a marvel," he said, staring at the hulking blue monster, easily twice as big as he was. He looked at Dr. Zola. "Is it stable?"

"The new process managed to stabilize the transformation," Dr. Zola promptly answered. "The success rate improved tremendously and they don't perish as easily."

"What about their minds? Can they follow orders?"

Dr. Zola hesitated. "In a sense. We can, um, point them at an enemy force and they will continue attacking it until there is no one left or until they die."

That amused Schmidt. "That's good enough for what we need." He turned to Dr. Zola. "Is your research packed?"

"Yes, Herr Schmidt. As you ordered, it was the first thing we prepared when our spies sent word that the Allied Forces were advancing. We can move the rest of the equipment and subjects by tomorrow—"

"You and I are leaving today, Dr. Zola," Schmidt interrupted. "With this knowledge you have acquired we'll soon have an army strong enough for the next step."

Dr. Zola seemed confused, as if he couldn't understand why they would abandon everything. Erik, on the other hand, was still fixated on one thing he had just heard: the Allies were coming!

"We have more than enough time to take everything, Herr Schmidt," Zola insisted. "There is no need to—"

"I'm sure your colleagues can follow us with the rest of your lab as soon as possible, Dr. Zola," Schmidt said, eyes lingering on Erik for a second, "but our paths will diverge for now. Take only your research, leave everything else."

There was no mistaking Schmidt's tone for anything other than a direct order.

"Might I ask what we are doing now, Herr Schmidt?" Dr. Zola asked, resigned.

Schmidt turned and looked at Zola; he grinned.

"You are not the only one to have gods visiting you in your dreams, Dr. Zola. I was presented with a path and with a task." Schmidt looked up as if he could see something. "We are welcoming a god into our world."

* * *

 **SSR Aircraft, Auschwitz's Airspace - April 8** **th** **, 1944**

Steve glanced at his men, sitting side by side in Stark's aircraft as they flew over Poland. The Howling Commandos, as always, looked prepared, eager to get into battle, completely unafraid despite the odds. Which was a good thing, he admitted, because this mission would probably be the most dangerous one they took to this day.

The jump itself was already a great risk. Stark's plane was capable of flying _much_ higher than a common plane, to avoid being detected, which would make that kind of precision jump that much harder. They couldn't miss the target, because if they did they would land alone and without backup right into enemy territory.

That's without taking into account the kind of resistance they would face down there. HYDRA's weapons were dangerous, a single shot was all it took to kill, and they had a lot of them. There were plenty of normal weapons too, maybe not as deadly the energy ones, but lethal as well. And, of course, there were the blue monsters.

Those were the real problem. To fight a single one of those things, Steve and Diana had their share of trouble. What would they do against a troop of them? Steve could only hope Stark's new weapons would do the trick.

Shaking his head slightly to dispel his worries, Steve turned his eyes from the Howling Commandos to Diana. She was, surprisingly, by herself, in silence, as she gazed through a window. That was weird; Steve didn't remember ever seeing her worried before combat before. Were things that bad?

"Diana, are you okay?" he asked, his voice low, approaching her.

She looked at him as if surprised to see him there, which just showed him how distracted she was.

"I'm okay, Steve," she answered, giving him a smile that looked nothing like the real one.

"Are you sure?" he insisted. "You seem worried."

Diana looked back at the window and didn't answer for so long that he thought she wouldn't. Then she looked back at him.

"I hate them," she whispered. Her voice was so low that even he, with his enhanced hearing, almost couldn't understand. "I _hate_ them. I cannot forget what we have seen in Majdanek, all those bodies, those children… And the same thing is happening down there, right now." She looked at him, her hands closed into fists. "I want to _tear them apart_ with my bare hands!"

Diana closed her eyes for a second, almost as if trying to regain control.

"But I shouldn't," she finished, her voice no higher than a whisper. "I am supposed to be an Amazon, Steve. Our purpose is to influence the world with love. We are warriors, we fight and we kill when we have to, but our calling is to bring love to the world. Not hate, not destruction. And yet… Hate and destruction is all I want do bring over these people." Diana stopped talking for a second, then chuckled without humor. "My mother told me I wasn't an Amazon before I left Themyscira. I didn't believe her then, but maybe… Maybe she was right."

"No, she wasn't!" Steve exclaimed before he could stop himself, startling her. He paused, getting a hold of himself. "Diana, don't _ever_ think that again. You are the best person I have ever met. You are kind, you are caring, you are brave and strong and I can't even imagine anyone more fitting than you to be called an Amazon!"

She stared at him, surprised by his outburst like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I hate them too, Diana," Steve continued. "But I'm fighting this war to save the people who needs saving, not because I hate them. And I'm sure you are the same. Tell me, if you had to make a choice, if there was no other option, would you destroy the Death Camp or save the people in it?"

"Of course I would save them!" Diana exclaimed, as if there was no choice to be made.

"Then you are not fighting this war out of hate," Steve concluded. He got closer, allowing himself to touch her shoulder. "Diana, you saved my life in Themyscira. You helped me escape, even against the orders of your own mother. You left with me, simply because you couldn't stand being in a paradise while the rest of the world burned. And you did all that knowing that there was a very big chance that you wouldn't see your homeland and you family ever again." He got even closer, as if his feet were moving by themselves. "There is no one I'd rather have by my side."

As he said that, Steve realized how true those words were. Diana became so much more to him since they left Themyscira. She was a companion, then a friend and now… Now she was something else. Something _more_. Steve had no experience in anything related to women and dating, but he wondered if what he felt wasn't love after all.

He trusted her with his life, he cherished every moment they spent together, he felt happy and complete by her side… And it went without saying that he was attracted to her; Steve didn't think anyone even remotely interested in the "fairer sex" could _not_ be attracted to her.

Suddenly, Peggy grabbing him by the shirt about a month ago and telling him she would shoot him if he broke Diana's heart made a lot more sense.

"If you two lovebirds are done with your hush-hush meeting in the corner," Howard yelled from the cockpit, looking at them with a cocky grin, "check your equipment. We are almost there."

His voice seemed to break whatever spell Diana's eyes had cast on him and Steve jumped back, very aware of how hot his cheeks were feeling, only to meet Bucky's eyes; his friend smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, as did the rest of the Howling Commandos. Diana, probably noticing their gazes somehow, turned around quickly, just in time to see them pathetically trying to hide their hands and smiles.

Yes, Steve wasn't afraid to fall to his death anymore; he was quite eager to do so, if he were honest with himself.

* * *

"Alright, listen up!" Steve yelled over the sound of the engines, as everyone checked their parachutes and guns. "Our landing target is small. We are aiming to the roof of the central lab. So wait until you are close to open your parachutes!"

Diana wasn't truly worried about that part, but the rest of them seemed to be.

"Our man on the inside will provide the distraction we need," Steve continued, turning to look at Howard. "Stark, call Peggy and give her the 'OK' to go on."

Howard agreed without looking at him, grabbing his radio.

"Again, wait as long as you can to open your parachutes!" Steve repeated, checking his rifle as he did it. He strapped it at his chest, since his shield and parachute already were at his back. "Open too soon and you will be easy targets."

"That's great…" Dugan mumbled.

"Are you okay there, Dugan?" Bucky asked, amused.

"Don't worry, it's just jitters. After we jump I'll be alright. It's this damn plane!"

"Hey, the plane is flying great!" Howard yelled back.

It really was, Diana agreed, as she checked her own equipment. Her shield, as Steve's, was strapped at her back, alongside her sword. Her lasso was at her waist and her Amazon armor was glowing under the weak light of the aircraft.

She truly didn't understand why Dugan hated flying so much; the sky was so comfortable!

"10 minutes to the drop zone!" Howard yelled at them. "Peggy is already sending the signal, so get ready!"

Diana looked at Steve and smiled when he met her eyes. She was ready.

* * *

 **Auschwitz, Poland - April 8** **th** **, 1944**

It was time, James realized as he felt the damn electrical shock inside his guts. Without attracting attention to himself, he looked up and met the eyes of three men on the other side of the field; almost imperceptibly, they nodded in response, each one moving in a different direction. James waited a second, searching in the distance, until he saw the small glow of a mirror.

Another mirror shined in another separated field, and another, and another. He waited an entire minute, until the message was spread everywhere else. Then he gave a thumbs-up.

Almost immediately, an explosion made the whole camp shake; a tall guard tower, with a bunch of snipers on top, fell down. Another bomb exploded, this time in another field, taking down the walls of a warehouse and then another tower fell when a third explosion followed. Gunshots began to sound everywhere and the people began to yell desperately, running.

James wasn't even seeing this. When the second explosion happened, he unleashed his claws and cut the barbed wire in front of him, ignoring the bullets flying his way as he ran in the explosion's direction. The infiltrated spies were moving towards there as well, running from all directions, some of them falling when hit by the guards.

The explosions kept happening, bringing down buildings and entire fences, making the truly enormous amount of people kept there panic. The prisoners began to yell and run and the guards started to shoot some of them, only making things worse. James looked for a second while he ran, seeing a mass of people moving in the opposite direction of an explosion, trampling a detachment of guards without barely acknowledging them.

As it had happened in Majdanek, the sheer amount of people began to take over Auschwitz.

James knew it wouldn't last very long. The explosives he brought were powerful, but they didn't have a lot of them, not enough to fight a war; but it was enough for a distraction, so they could reach the warehouse full of weapons. He and some of his spies reached the warehouse at the same time. Without pausing, he roared and jumped in, clashing against the confused Nazis with all his strength.

Finally he could do what he'd been dreaming to do all this time.

He barely noticed his men taking up arms as he killed his fill of soldiers using his bone claws. The sharp blades ripped them apart with ease, dropping them before they had time to do anything. Soon, gunshots began to take the place, as his men started to fight back.

Killing the last of the Nazis in the vicinity, James grabbed one of the rifles, barking orders.

"Give the guns to everyone, arm the people!" he yelled, as a mass of prisoners showed up running through the warehouse. "Kill the sons of bitches!"

It was meant to be a distraction, but James would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying himself.

* * *

"Go, go, go!" Steve ordered, coordinating the jumping.

Bucky was the first and soon everyone else followed, even a pale-faced Dugan; Diana, as graceful as ever, was the next. And then Steve jumped. The wind howled in his ears as he began to fall, cold as ice. He had to squint his eyes to see his companions as they entered the clouds, piercing the veil of mist that covered the entire land beneath them.

And suddenly, as soon as they crossed them, Auschwitz appeared.

It was a truly enormous collection of buildings and fields, surrounded by tall barbed-wire fences. And even from up there, Steve could hear the explosions. Buildings were falling, clouds of smoke and fire were rising and thick masses of people were running in all directions. Whatever it was the distraction Peggy had arranged, it was working.

Turning his eyes from the tumult, Steve focused on the tall building in the middle of the Concentration Camp, HYDRA's lab.

Beneath him, the Howling Commandos fell as quickly as he did, Bucky the first in line and Diana last. It was surprising, in fact, how fast the ground approached, considering how high up in the sky they were before. He gazed at his altimeter, checking how long it would take until it was time to open his parachute; that's when things began to go downhill.

Steve almost didn't see it in time to twist his body, but his reflexes luckily caught up in time so he could dodge the burst of blue energy that appeared out of nowhere.

Still shocked, his heart beating even faster, Steve looked for the point of origin of the energy burst, trying to identify the one who shot them even up there in the sky. Weren't the explosions and the all-out conflict happening down there meant to avoid this? Trying to ignore the distracting barrage of energy shots flying between them, Steve finally managed to find who was shooting at them.

Or what was shooting at them, he should say; automated turrets, positioned on the roof of the very lab they were supposed to land on.

How would they do this now? How did the spies hadn't seen this? The closer they got, the higher the chance for one of them to be shot. And one shot was all it took for them to die with those kinds of weapons. Steve was desperately trying to think about their alternatives, trying to find a way to protect his brothers in arms and Diana.

It was at that moment that Diana chose to simply get rid of her parachute, grab her shield from her back and dive, falling fast as a bullet in the lab's direction. Steve couldn't find any words to explain what had just happened.

"DIANA!" he screamed, desperately, as if that would help things.

He knew, though, that all he could do now was pray she actually had a plan that didn't involve crashing head-on against the building.

* * *

Diana didn't think, she just acted. When the Tesseract energy shots began to fly in their direction, nearly hitting Steve and then the rest of the Howling Commandos, she simply ripped whatever was in the way of her shield and dived down fast; it just so happened that what she tossed away in her hurry was her very own parachute.

Strangely, she was not worried at all. In fact, she felt more free than she had ever felt in her entire life as she pierced the sky, shield in front of her, quickly passing through all Howling Commandos until she was between them and the shooting.

Instead of afraid, Diana was _thrilled_.

She felt the first energy bursts clashing against her shield, dispelling as if they were nothing when faced against the divine metal. And as long as she remained there, she knew nothing would hurt her friends. Her hair and armor were fluttering against the wind as she fell, incredibly fast, the barrage of blue shots increasing at each moment, hitting her shield nonstop. The ground approached and the tall building where HYDRA had made their lab grew larger.

Diana had only time to grin savagely before she crashed, shield first, against it.

The impact was spectacular. Her shield, and body, hit the concrete like a bomb and the shockwaves generated turned the top of the building into dust. Diana felt her muscles and bones protesting for a moment, but no pain came; instead, she felt even more exhilarated as the building's resistance simply disappeared.

The roof caved in, taking with it all the turrets; and Diana herself.

She continued to fall, almost as fast, her shield breaking every single floor of the lab. The noise was incredible and a tower of smoke and debris filled the air as Diana simply passed through the building, piercing it like a spear. She could see the walls cracking, the floors turning into dust, the rooms she passed through being unmade.

And, finally, she hit the ground floor, like a meteor colliding against a planet; the crater her shield made was big enough to topple half the building.

* * *

"Holy fuck!" yelled a soldier, when the lab was hit hard enough to collapse.

James Howlett agreed wholeheartedly with whoever yelled that. He knew that everything he was doing was so the Howling Commandos could infiltrate HYDRA's lab and take control of it. He knew that the plan was for them to land quietly on top of the building and work their way down to the lab underground.

He _didn't_ know that they would toss from the plane what seemed to be a woman and that the woman they tossed was somehow _tougher_ than a building made of concrete and steel.

For a whole minute, everyone in Auschwitz, prisoners and Nazis alike, could only stare at the remains of the building. Even the noise died down. Nobody knew what to think, what to do, how to react to the fact _that a small woman had just destroyed an entire building using a shield_!

Could she be like him? James didn't have a name for what he was, but he knew that there were more like him out there. Different gifts, different abilities, but he had met some of them before. No one quite as impressive, it was true, but it wasn't like he spent a lot of time looking.

Regardless, it didn't matter right now. The mission remained the same. Grabbing his rifle, he shot the still too-shocked-to-move guards blocking his way; the gunfire snapped people back to the real world.

"Make a path to that building!" James ordered, already starting to run that way.

His job was to protect that place — and any clues in it that could lead to the Red Skull — and he would fulfil his mission. James only hoped that not too many people died to achieve that.

* * *

Diana groaned as she got up, finally feeling the strain in her body. Her muscles were hurting and her bones were aching, but shockingly nothing seemed to be broken. Since when was she so strong? So, shaking her head to dispel her dizziness, she tossed all the debris on top of her away and got up, waving her shield around for a moment to blow away the dust.

When the dust settled enough for her to see through it, Diana's eyes fixed on the hallway in front of her; a half-collapsed hallway that went down, to what seemed to be an underground facility.

A hallway littered with fallen HYDRA's soldiers that were beginning to get up. Diana grinned; she already knew where to go.

* * *

Diana did not have a plan that involved _not_ crashing head-on against the building.

Steve was panicking. It was a controlled panic, he still had all his focus on the mission, but seeing Diana crashing against that building — and bringing it down — was almost enough to make even his super-soldier heart stop. Was she alright? Was she alive?! Steve had no idea and the questions were making him nauseous.

He and the Howling Commandos were falling fast, even with the parachutes already opened, but not nearly fast enough in Steve's opinion.

When they reached a distance Steve felt he wouldn't hurt himself by jumping, he cut off his own parachute and allowed himself to fall, passing through his men still floating down, and landed on the remains of the fallen building; he glanced at what was left standing of the building for a second, still impressed beyond words, and went his way, searching for Diana.

Since when was Diana that powerful? He knew she was strong, it was a bit hard to miss when she went around tossing tanks in the air, but this went beyond anything he imagined she was capable of. To survive a land like that — he hoped — and destroy an entire building like it was made of dust? He'd seen amazing things since he fell on Themyscira, but this was incredible.

Behind him, the Howling Commandos began to land, their faces as shocked as his was, but Steve barely looked at them, still searching for Diana. He could see exactly where she had hit and passed through, she could see the crater where she landed, but there was no sign of her anywhere. That was good; it meant she was alive and not too hurt to move. It didn't make him any less worried, however, and he suspected he wouldn't get rid of this anxiousness until he could see her with his own eyes.

"That way!" Bucky exclaimed, suddenly, making Steve turn.

The corridor went downwards, probably to the underground HYDRA lab, and it was the only way they could follow. It was, also, the way Diana had undoubtedly followed, given the trail of dead HYDRA soldiers that he'd failed to see in his desperation to find her.

"Follow me!" Steve ordered, grabbing his shield and rifle and running down the hallway. The Howling Commandos followed.

* * *

Diana dodged the desperate firing from the HYDRA's soldiers as she chased them, bouncing on the walls and ceiling with such speed and strength that she became a blur. Using a wall to push herself forward, she actually jumped towards an energy burst and used her bracelets to deflect it, hitting the first of the soldiers.

Scared beyond words, the soldiers fell down and Diana caught up with them; it took her less than a second to pass through, leaving behind only headless opponents.

She was running as quickly as she could, feeling the adrenalin flowing through her body, exhilarated to be in combat. Without stopping even for a moment, she crashed head-on against a door, destroying it alongside a great portion of the wall, only to find herself in the middle of a room filled with soldiers.

Diana danced in the middle of them, dodging the fire, counter-attacking as if they were moving in slow-motion. Her sword seemed a blur, slashing guns and people alike, while her shield bashed them with such power that she was launching them against the walls. It was like she was fighting by reflex alone, feeling rather than consciously reacting, while her mind was focused elsewhere.

In the constant humming of electricity just beneath them; there was a room below.

Grinning again, Diana dodged a last shot and punched the floor. It was like an earthquake had just hit them, breaking the floor beneath their feet like glass, and all of them fell down; difference was, while the HYDRA's soldiers fell yelling, most of them upside down, Diana was already spinning to land as gracefully as a cat.

Kicking the one stubborn soldier who dared to try to get up, Diana looked around, finding an opened, thick steel door. She listened for a second, trying to hear if that was the place to the main lab; the fact that she heard yelling and more machines made it a good possibility.

* * *

Erik Lehnsherr was, once again, terrified. He couldn't tell what was happening, but it was bad, he knew that much. Only a day after the Red Skull had visited the lab, leaving with Dr. Zola and his research, the scientists left behind were finishing packing the equipment. They would leave that very day, taking with them not only everything of value in the lab, but also the subjects, like him, so there would be nothing left when the Allied Forces finally arrived.

That's when the first explosion hit the camp.

It happened far away, but they all felt it anyway. The lab's lights flicked, the whole place trembled and for a second there was absolute silence. Then there was another explosion, and another, and another… The scientists clearly didn't know what to do and Erik, for the first time since he got there, felt a glimmer of hope; the Allies were here!

That glimmer of hope was severely tested when _something_ hit the building they were in, bringing it down like a giant hammer coming from the sky.

For a second, he was truly afraid they were going to get buried under the collapsed building, but the underground lab seemed to resist the impact fairly well. And by "fairly well" he meant that they weren't under a pile of rubbles, because the once pristine lab was completely destroyed. The lights were flickering, the equipment and tables were thrown everywhere, the walls were cracked and the deafening alarm was blaring endlessly.

Whatever hit them, had caused a lot of damage. But, more importantly, it had made the Nazis terrified.

He honestly didn't know if that was a good thing. Of course, if it really were the Allies attacking, then it was good, since Erik would have a chance of being freed from this hell. However, given that everything was blowing up out there, he feared being caught in the crossfire; especially if the Nazi scientists felt threatened enough to do something stupid.

Which, of course, was exactly what they were doing.

From his little cell, Erik watched as one frantic scientist ran to another room, yelling; the same room where those blue monsters were being stored. Two other scientists ran after him, maybe to try to stop him, disappearing from his view. The soldiers still in the lab were trembling, eyes going from the monster room to the thick, steel doors that led to the hallway.

Then there was a roar.

Erik was shaking too, he realized. The mere appearance of those things was enough to scare him and that roar didn't help things in the least. He tried to remember what Dr. Zola had said about them, if they could obey orders; his answer had been ominous. They could be ordered to kill, that was it. Were these monsters capable of fighting the Allied Forces? Could these scientists really control them?

His answer came in the form of a scream and one of the scientists flying through the windows, only to crash already dead in the middle of the lab. He needed to get out of there.

* * *

"Steve, they are closing the door!" Bucky yelled, shooting a HYDRA soldier as he ran.

Amongst the chaos of shooting, the loud alarm blaring and the running, Steve saw that the big steel doors on the other side of the corridor were beginning to close, the two halves slowly meeting at the center; he couldn't let that happen. Who knows how long it would take for them to find another way or, worse, to find a way to open that door?

Rolling on the ground, Steve threw his shield; the vibranium disc bounced on the wall, the ceiling, on the back of a HYDRA soldier and, finally, it stopped right in the middle of the doors, keeping them from closing. The superior metal actually dented the thick steel of the doors, as they forced themselves together.

Without stop to run even for a moment, Steve dashed forward, rolling under his stuck shield and through the doors, landing in the middle of the room; the HYDRA soldiers were so surprised that they didn't react.

It was all the chance he needed. Firing quickly, Steve hit three of them before they could even grab their guns and jumped closer to the closest soldier. The HYDRA soldier tried to raise his weapon, but Steve disarmed him with a fast punch and kicked his chest so hard that the man flew against the soldier behind him.

Dodging the firing, Steve advanced so he could take advantage of the close quarters combat. It was brutal; each punch was enough to send them down, his kicks sent them flying, he was moving so fast that the soldiers simply couldn't aim.

And when the Howling Commandos finally arrived in the room, it was over.

"Glad to see you left at least one for us!" Dugan joked, as he shot the only HYDRA soldier still alive.

"We do have to earn our salaries somehow!" Gabe Jones said, pressing the buttons on the door's control panel; the steel doors opened, releasing his stuck shield.

"Here it is," Bucky said, tossing him the vibranium shield back. He looked around for a moment. "Well, I guess we are on the right path after all, huh?"

By the amount of dead HYDRA soldiers around, none of them shot to death, it seemed so; the fact that the center of the room had a big hole was also a good indictive that Diana had passed through there.

"We can't go down that way," Bucky said, looking down the hole. "It's too deep."

"I can," Steve answered.

"Okay, let me rephrase that: we _shouldn't_ go down that way, because we'll have to split up."

"Diana is already alone, Bucky," Steve said, still looking down, worried. "If Howard is right and the place has those blue monsters, she could be in trouble."

"That's another good reason for us not splitting up!" Bucky retorted, sighing, realizing Steve wouldn't budge. "Okay, fine. Dugan and I will take the long way, see if we find more bad guys or some prisoners. You jump down. The rest of you, guard this location. We're coming back this way if shit goes down."

Bucky glanced at Steve; he nodded.

"Captain's orders!" they all said.

"Be careful, everyone!" Steve ordered, jumping down.

"You too!" the Howling Commandos yelled back, as he fell.

* * *

Erik was running in the dark corridors, passing through soldiers and scientists alike; they didn't even look at him. In normal circumstances this would've been weird, but normal circumstances didn't involve a bunch of hulking monstrosities killing everyone they saw. And that was exactly what was happening.

Breathing hard, his panic the only thing keeping his weak legs moving, Erik threw himself in a dark room in the middle of the corridor, crouching as silent as he could. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the yelling, the roaring and the gunshots; occasionally, the whole place trembled, as if hit too hard by something.

He knew, the moment they chose to free those things, that this would happen. Was it worth it? The Allies would at least accept surrenders; these things killed because it was their first instinct to. The room he was in was overrun by them in seconds and he only managed to escape because the soldiers and scientists running around proved to be a much more enticing prey. Now, though, he wondered how long he could really hide.

As slowly as he could, he glanced through the window of the room, seeing the corridor outside. The lights were flickering nonstop and the whole place was dark. But the sounds? Those he could hear clearly, even with the loud alarm. There were a lot of footsteps coming from one side of the corridor, running, and a heavier one chasing them. There was a roar, gunfire and a scream.

One of the soldiers appeared suddenly in the corridor, flying through it so fast that Erik would've missed if he hadn't his eyes wide open; he flinched when the inevitable sound of bones breaking echoed.

The rest of the soldiers and scientists kept running, desperately, using the seconds they'd won to try and get some distance. They crossed the corridor running as fast as they could, yelling, when the blue monster jumped, grabbing the slowest of them; nobody even attempted to help.

Erik watched as they reached the other side of the corridor, their footsteps and voices getting lower and lower; then, surprisingly, there were yells again. He stared, wide eyed, as another HYDRA soldier was tossed back, this time from the opposite side of the corridor, but with the same gruesome results. He could only look, astonished, as the HYDRA personnel started to run back, into the direction of the blue monster still in the corridor.

What were they thinking?! Was there another monster on the other side of the corridor?

That was when Erik saw her. A woman, wearing some kind of armor, holding a sword and a shield and running so fast that her form was almost blurred; a battle cry left her mouth.

Erik watched, as shocked as he could possibly be, as the woman cut the distance between her and the hulking monster like a lightning bolt, trampling the HYDRA soldiers as she did it. And then they collided. He'd seen those monsters tossing fully armored soldiers like they were toys, breaking concrete walls and resisting energy weapons fired against them, but when the woman and the monster clashed, she was the winner.

She bashed it with her shield, hitting it so strongly that its ribs caved in. The monster was thrown back, its feet digging in the ground as the monster tried to breath, only to be immediately pierced by her sword under the chin.

And just like that, the monster was dead. A monster that killed dozens of soldiers, resisted bullets and energy charges, a monster strong enough to kill unopposed. Erik couldn't believe it. What was that woman? Could she be like him? A mutant?

Before he could think of an answer for that question, the warrior woman blurred in his direction, broke the window and grabbed him.

Erik was not proud of his scared, high-pitched scream.

* * *

Steve had no idea where he was, but Diana had left a pretty long trail of beaten enemies for him to follow. The corridors were destroyed, filled with debris and broken equipment, some sections completely dark; parts of it were because of Diana's violent landing and the rest, undoubtably, was because of her following rampage.

If she was that destructive, Steve considered, it probably meant that she was alright.

Turning right on a corridor to avoid a collapsed section, Steve kept running without missing a beat, his eyes searching the dark place for any kind of hostiles or for Diana herself, but there was nobody. No soldiers, no scientists, no prisoners, no Amazon. Could they have retreated somewhere? What happened in that place? Because surely, Diana wasn't responsible for every bit of destruction there.

He got his answer when the walls in front of him exploded.

Steve raised his shield as quickly as he could to block the flying debris and to block a huge blue fist; the vibranium sang when it was hit and Steve used the momentum to glide back. The hulking monster stared at him, his deformed face half-covered by shadows and dust, and then he roared.

So that was why they didn't find anybody alive, Steve realized, as he aimed his new rifle.

The bullets rained from his gun, the blue flashes illuminating the corridor for a moment. The beast screamed in pain as Stark's new ammunition exploded as it touched the abomination's chest, big chunks of flesh being ripped apart. Steve didn't stop shooting as he advanced, moving as quickly as he could, and then he bashed the monster's chin with his shield.

A normal shield-bash would've never hurt such a strong creature, but the vibranium shield-bash of a super-soldier did, throwing the beast on its back. He didn't miss his chance; stepping over it, Steve brought his shield down with all his strength, right over its neck.

The monster didn't get up.

"Steve!" a very familiar, very missed voice, spoke from behind him.

"Diana!" Steve exclaimed, turning to the voice's direction as he raised his shield.

It really was Diana, but she was not alone. Almost as if hiding behind her, Steve could see a kid. A teenager, malnourished, afraid and with several incision marks on his arms; a test subject, no doubt.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, walking to her, checking her for any injuries. "What were you thinking?!"

"I had no choice, Steve!" she retorted, knowing very well why she was being scolded.

"Yes, you did! You chose to put yourself at risk!"

"For you!" Diana almost shouted. There was a pause. "For everyone, I mean."

"We don't trade lives!" Steve screamed back. He looked down and took a long breath. "We are a team, Diana. We fight together. Are we understood?"

Diana stared at him for a second, her face twisted with poorly disguised anger, then she looked down.

"Yes!" she practically spat.

"Good!" Steve said. Then before he could stop himself, he hugged her. She froze for a second, before hugging him back. "I'm glad you're alright."

He held her for a few more seconds, then, suddenly embarrassed, he let her go. There was a moment of silence, when neither of them looked at each other.

"Oh!" Diana exclaimed, grabbing the also embarrassed boy by his shoulders. "Steve, this is Erik. He was a prisoner here."

Steve looked at him, trying to imagine what kind of torment that kid had been through.

"Are you okay, son?" he asked, kneeling so he could look him in the eyes.

"I-I'm fine, sir," Erik answered.

He touched the kid's shoulders, his hands touching Diana's at the same time.

"We are getting you out of here, I promise."

* * *

"These new rifles are incredible!" Bucky exclaimed, as he fired against a HYDRA soldier, seeing his bullets simply disintegrating him.

"Stark has really outdone himself!" Dugan agreed, hiding behind a wall so he could reload.

The HYDRA soldiers on the other side of the corridor continued to fire against them, their energy weapons scorching everything they touched, but Bucky and Dugan simply waited for their chance to respond; this wasn't, after all, the first time they've been in this situation.

Or so they thought.

Before any of them could even tell what was happening, part of the ceiling collapsed behind the HYDRA the soldiers, on the opposite side of the hallway. And before the dust could even settle down, a huge monstrosity lunged out of it, roaring like a mad beast. The HYDRA soldiers had only time to turn before it hit the first one, crushing him beneath its enormous fist.

The monster had time to grab a second soldier, before they simply ran through the corridor, as if not even remembering that Bucky and Dugan were on the other side with loaded guns.

If those things weren't so terrifying, Bucky would've been a little offended.

"Fire!" Dugan yelled, shooting the hulking creature, also completely forgetting about the HYDRA soldiers.

Enemy of my enemy, indeed, Bucky thought, as he also began to fire, purposely missing the soldiers so they could also help bring down that thing. Their bullets exploded on the monsters, making it scream in pain, and it actually made it flinch; using the opportunity, the HYDRA soldiers also turned around to shoot, making the creature raise its big arms to defend itself. They were hurting it, Bucky realized, happy; the guns were really working!

Being hurt and cornered, however, made the blue monster furious. With a mighty roar, the monster simply lunged forward, ignoring the firing, its feet breaking the floor as it moved incredibly fast.

The HYDRA soldiers on the back were simply trampled to death, as the monster advanced like a tank in their direction. No one stopped to shoot, the bullets and energy charges burning its skin and hurting it, but it wasn't slowing down. With a powerful bash, two HYDRA soldiers were killed instantly and the third and last had maybe one additional second of life, before the monster smashed him with both arms.

Bucky and Dugan didn't even realize they were screaming as they fired their guns desperately, the monster almost on them.

And then, when Bucky's rifle clicked uselessly indicating it had no more ammo, someone passed through them like a blur and jumped on the monster. Bucky and Dugan could only watch as the man grabbed the blue monster like he was wrestling a bull, his arms around its thick neck as he used all his weight to turn the monster's head.

The creature didn't stop, but it did move enough to the side so Dugan and Bucky could jump to the other, avoiding it. His hands reloaded the rifle almost automatically, but his eyes were fixed on the man as he unleashed what it seemed to be three bone claws from it. He watched, astonished, as the man roared back to the creature, sinking his claws in one of its wounds so he could better grasp it.

Then, without any hesitation, the man simply grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin off with his teeth and forced it inside the monster mouth. Dugan and Bucky were holding their breaths when it finally exploded, a huge cloud of fire taking the corridor.

For several seconds, Bucky's entire existence consisted of his ringing ears. He groaned, forcing himself to get up, dizzy and deaf; Dugan seemed to be experiencing the same by his side, if his pathetic attempts to stand meant anything. Shaking his head, ignoring the foul smell of smoke, Bucky grabbed his rifle, finished to reload it, and went towards the smoke.

The monster was fallen, its jaw and most of its face almost completely destroyed; yet its pitiful whining showed that the thing was still alive. Bucky raised his rifle and aimed, ready to shoot, but the monster didn't react. He lowered, slowly, still alert; it was alive, but barely.

He couldn't say the same thing about the man.

Whoever he was, Bucky decided kneeling by his side, the man was a hero. He couldn't care less if the guy had bone claws or very apparent anger-management issues, he was a hero with more courage than half the people he knew combined. And now he was dead. Dead to save his and Dugan's life.

"Is he…" Dugan asked, getting closer, his rifle pointed at the dying monster.

Bucky nodded, respectfully, glancing at the grisly wound on the man's abdomen. There was no way to survive a grenade explosion from that distance. The man's clothes were soaked with blood, no doubt from the shrapnel that had torn him apart. At least he died quickly, Bucky thought, saddened to see a fallen soldier, especially one that had died to save his life. He raised his hand to search for a dog tag or some form of identification.

And almost had a heart attack when the dead guy's hand grabbed his with a steel grip.

"AAHHHH!" Bucky and Dugan screamed.

"Son of a bitch!" the man yelled, still holding Bucky's hand. "ARRGHH!"

Both of them could only watch as the man sat down, finally releasing Bucky, his hands pushing his guts back inside his body. Bucky was a hardened soldier, but he felt lightheaded when he saw that. Breathing deeply, the man got up, apparently ignoring his lethal wounds, and looked at them.

Except there were no more wounds. The blood and the torn clothes were there, but the previously mangled stomach was healed. What the fuck?!

Paying no attention to either of them, the man turned to the fallen monster, still whining pathetically on the ground; Bucky retreated a few steps when the man released his bone claws again, from both hands, and roared in fury, lunging towards the creature. He and Dugan raised their weapons unconsciously as the man started to hit the monster's already wounded neck nonstop, blood flowing everywhere, until his claws actually ripped its flesh apart.

Bucky had no words to share when the man finally finished decapitating the monster and kicked its head to the other side of the corridor, still roaring.

"Son of a bitch!" he screamed again, pissed. He stopped for a second, closing his eyes and breathing deeply for a few seconds. Then he turned to them; he and Dugan raised their weapons again. "That was really uncomfortable."

"Who the hell are you?!" Bucky exclaimed, fed up with the mystery. "How the fuck did you survive this?! Are those bone claws coming out of your hands?!"

The man stared at him for a second.

"Captain James Howlett, Canadian Army," he answered. "I'm your contact inside, if that's what you wanted to know."

"You're Peggy's spy?" Dugan asked, surprised. "She forgot to mention your, um, claws?"

James focused his eyes on Dugan. "Got a problem with that?"

"No problem! No problem at all!" Dugan said, quickly. "You saved our necks! You could have horns for all I care!"

True, Bucky agreed, but it was still weird as hell.

"I left my people on the entrance, with yours," James said, for some reason sniffing the air. "They'll secure the exit for us. Let's find your Captain before more of those things show up. I can smell them that way."

Jesus Christ, he could track by smell too?! Ignoring Bucky's internal dialogue, James grabbed a rifle from one of the dead HYDRA soldiers, kicked the monster's head one last time and started to guide them. Before they could move more than a few steps, though, he sniffed the air again.

"You have cigars," he said, suddenly, looking at Dugan.

"Well, um, yeah," his friend agreed, extremely puzzled and uncomfortable. "You want one?"

The weird violent man with bone claws and healing abilities seemed to light up like a kid in a candy shop.

"There is nothing I want more, bub," he exhaled, approaching Dugan.

Well, Bucky could officially say he had seen everything.

* * *

"The main lab, where I was kept, is that way!" Erik said, pointing at the right corridor. "But I doubt there is anyone there anymore."

"Why is that?" Diana, the beautiful lady warrior who had nearly scared him to death on that corridor, asked, speaking perfect German to do so.

"Because… Because there was also the place where those blue monsters were kept," Erik nearly whispered.

Neither Diana nor Captain Rogers said anything, but they looked at each other for a long moment. Erik didn't really know what they were doing in that place, but he couldn't be happier that they were there. Captain America was a living legend and Erik felt a lot safer by his side. And Diana… He didn't know what she was, but Erik knew she was special. And she had defended him from soldiers and monsters already.

If there was a god, he had heard his prayers.

"We need to go there anyway," Captain Rogers — the very same Captain America from the stories, he still couldn't believe that — said, also speaking German, obviously for his sake. "We need to find something."

Diana nodded, but glanced at him. "What about Erik? We can't take him there, not if there are more creatures like that."

He would follow them wherever they went, but he would prefer if they got out from that place as fast as possible, Erik wouldn't deny it. Monsters, sadistic scientists, HYDRA soldiers, gunshots, explosions… He had a thousand reasons to want to leave and none to want to stay, especially after the very loud roars and the violent explosion they'd just heard a few minutes ago.

"We can't leave him here either," Captain Rogers said, exhaling. He looked at Erik and then back at Diana. "He'll be safer with us than by himself."

"I agree!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself. Erik blushed a bit. "Sorry. Just… Please, don't leave me behind!"

Erik didn't want to sound as afraid as he felt, but there was nothing he could do to hide it. He didn't want to stay there, never again, and just the thought of being left behind was enough to make him terrified.

"We don't leave anyone behind," Captain America said, touching his shoulder to reassure him. He looked at Diana, raising one eyebrow; she nodded in response, albeit reluctantly. "Lead the way, Erik."

Of course, "lead the way" was more of a "point the correct way", since Captain Rogers took the lead, with Diana closely by his side, but it was the thought that mattered, he supposed. The corridors were strangely quiet now, which was a good thing. On the other hand, the corridors being quiet meant that everybody was probably already dead. That wasn't so good, he thought.

"Have you been here long, Erik?" Diana asked, kindly, snapping him out of his reveries.

"Too long…" Erik whispered. "I-I don't really know how long, but—"

"It's alright," Diana said, grabbing his hand and smiling. "We are going to get you out of here."

Erik believed her. Not only because he sincerely believed she and Captain America were good people, but because they most likely were strong enough to do it. Captain America was a legendary super-soldier, famous on the whole planet, and he had seen exactly what Diana was capable of.

Which begged the question, how exactly was she that powerful?

"Lady Diana—"

"You may call me 'Diana'," she interrupted, chuckling.

"Diana, how can you do, what you do?" he asked, clumsily. "I mean, how are you so strong?" He looked at Captain Rogers. "Captain Rogers is a super-soldier, but you… Are you a super-soldier too?"

Diana chuckled again, making him blush.

"I am an Amazon. A warrior blessed with power by the King of the Gods, Zeus, with the mission of bring peace and love to Man's World."

Okay, that was not what he was expecting, Erik would tell that much. But now that she said it, however, it made him remember something. The Red Skull telling him: "Are you blessed by a god as well, I wonder?"

Before he could ask anything, though, he heard footsteps approaching. For a moment, he panicked, freezing, but Diana and Captain Rogers were relaxed; they had probably heard the footsteps some time ago, Erik realized.

"Bucky!" Captain Rogers greeted the men turning the corridor, smiling. "Dugan! Finally caught up, huh?"

"Steve!" the man yelled back as they got closer; he frowned for a moment, probably wondering why Captain Rogers was speaking German, but as soon as he looked at Diana he opened a big smile. "Diana! It's good to see you are okay!"

"That it is!" a man using a hat agreed, speaking German just like Captain Rogers and Bucky.

"Bucky, Dugan, it's good to see you too," Diana greeted, smiling warmly. She looked at the third man; a weird, bearded, grumpy man smoking a cigar. "And who is this?"

"Peggy's spy!" the man named 'Bucky' answered.

"You were the one who provided the distraction?" Captain Rogers asked, approaching him.

"Not alone," the man said. "Captain America, it's good to meet you. I'm James Howlett, Canadian Army."

"Please, call me Steve. And this is Diana and Erik."

"So you are the reason we are all speaking in German!" Bucky said, looking at him with a grin, still speaking flawlessly German like all them were. Erik just nodded his head in appreciation.

"And you are the woman who jumped from the plane and destroyed this whole place," Mr. Howlett said, suddenly.

Erik turned to her with eyes wide. "That was you?! You jumped from a plane? How are you alive?!"

"How indeed…" Mr. Howlett said, eyes fixed on Diana. "And without a scratch."

"I guess you are not the only one who can't stay dead, huh?" Bucky interrupted, looking at Mr. Howlett.

Nobody but him, Dugan and Mr. Howlett understood that.

"It seems so," he agreed, after a while, eyes still on Diana. That seemed to bother Captain Rogers for some reason.

"We are going to the lab," Captain Rogers said, making everybody look at him. "There is a high possibility we'll find more of those blue monsters there, so be prepared."

"Huh, Steve, what about the kid?" Bucky asked. "Shouldn't we at least take him back to the entrance?"

"By the time we do, there might not be a lab for us to go, Bucky," Captain Rogers explained. "I don't like it either, but we need everyone we can gather for this and he is safer with us than alone."

"Yeah, that's true," Bucky agreed, grimly. He probably had met one of those monsters too.

"Well, if you people really want to get those clues, we have to go," Mr. Howlett said, exhaling smoke with a satisfied face.

They all agreed with him and they began to move, assuming a practiced formation around Erik. None of them was speaking anymore, too concentrated on the dark corridors around them, no doubt preparing themselves for what was coming. Erik was apprehensive. He couldn't fathom what exactly would compel them to go to a place filled with monsters, but it was probably important for the war.

He hoped it was _really_ important, because those things were terrifying.

"I can already hear them," Diana whispered, her eyes no longer kind, but hard. "They are in the room at the end of this hallway. There are at least ten of them."

"It's the lab," Erik answered, whispering as well.

"How are we doing this, Cap?" Dugan asked.

Captain Rogers thought for a moment, frowning.

"Are you sure they are all there, Diana?" he asked.

"I can't hear them anywhere else," she answered.

"That's good… This is what we're going to do," Captain Rogers announced. "Diana and I will go first, we'll engage them in close-quarters. You three will provide cover fire from the doors. Don't let them surround us and we'll be fine. Erik, you stay behind them."

That was it? That was the plan they had to face all those creatures? Erik was pretty sure he had lost all color on his face. But there was no other way now, Erik realized, as Diana and Captain Rogers prepared themselves, grabbing their weapons. Bucky, Dugan and Mr. Howlett checked their rifles. It was time.

"Let's go," Captain Rogers said. And he started to run, only Diana managing too keep up with him.

Erik had never seen someone running that quickly. Captain America was fast, but Diana was even faster than him. They reached and passed half of the corridor before the rest of them could even move more than a few meters; to be fair, Mr. Howlett was running pretty fast too, but he wasn't meant to go keep up with those two.

Before he could mentally prepare himself, he started to hear roars; the monsters had seen them.

A battle like nothing Erik had ever imagined began right in front of his eyes. Diana released a battle cry like the legendary warrior she told him she was, diving into the fight like she wasn't afraid of anything. Captain America was right behind her, silent but also unafraid, his red and blue shield singing as he moved. The monsters attacked all at the same time, lunging towards them, only to be received by a shield wall, a sword and bullets.

Bucky, Dugan and Mr. Howlett arrived a few seconds later, shooting those weird, but powerful weapons at the beasts. The bullets exploded as they touched them, except for Mr. Howlett's gun, that shot pure energy. Every time one of the blue monsters surrounded Diana and Captain Rogers, a flurry of bullets would put them down; every time one of the monsters got annoyed at being shot and tried to attack the ones shooting, Diana and Captain Rogers would drop them down before they could approach.

One by one the beasts were being defeated. Members were being cut off by Diana's sword, heads were being cracked by their shields and fists, organs were being punctured by their guns. It was violence on a level Erik had not yet seen, nor he thought he would ever see. A fight between heroes and monsters.

Before Erik could even understand completely what had passed, the monsters were down, Diana cutting the last one's head with a single stroke. There was a moment of silence, as all of them simply looked around, seeing the beaten monsters on the ground. They'd done it! Erik could barely believe that it was over! He laughed, feeling unbelievably happy. He was free!

At the same moment he thought that, the ceiling above them broke and one of the beasts fell down, right behind him.

Everyone moved at the same time, their expressions desperate, lunging towards the monster, but it didn't help; before anyone could do anything, the blue beast grabbed Erik, its gigantic hand surrounding his entire torso. The pressure was incredible and Erik would've been screaming if his lungs weren't about to be crushed.

So this was how it ended? Crushed to death by a monster in the same hell his mother died?

No! Erik refused to die like this! To die in a place he hated, a place where he was tortured and treated worse than an animal. He was a person, not a thing! And he would not allow everything to end like this.

The room around them started to tremble as Erik's rage grew. Metal equipment began to move, needles, scalpels, pens… The machines, bigger than a person, also began to move closer, pulled by an invisible force. He could feel everything made of metal around him, as if they were an extension of his own body.

Erik Lehnsherr opened his eyes, no longer afraid; he stared at the monster.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

Then he unleashed all his rage. Everything made of metal answered to his cry. Needles, scalpels, pens, coins, the guns and bullets the Howling Commandos were holding, Diana's sword and shield, Captain America's shield, the very steel doors of the lab. Everything was lifted into the air and thrown at the monster holding him.

The blue creature was simply torn apart. The metal objects flew faster than bullets, pushed forward by a magnetic force so strong that even the thick skin that covered the monster offered little protection. The smaller projectiles carved it, some even passing through its body; the guns and bullets from the Howling Commandos made the monster scream as they hit; the huge doors were ripped from the walls and lunged at it, bashing the monster's body with such strength that it released Erik; Diana's sword pierced its chest before the monster could even attempt to do anything, while her shield collided against its head.

And finally, Captain America's shield cut the air like a blur, its unique sound taking the room, decapitating the monster in a single hit.

The huge creature fell heavily on the ground. The metallic objects began to rain down on the floor, no longer sustained by the magnetic field. There was a moment of complete and absolute silence.

"Are we the only people without powers here?!" Bucky exclaimed, suddenly, looking at Dugan.

* * *

 **Los Angeles, California – March 28** **th** **, 2010**

Tony watched in silence as the doors of the plane opened slowly, allowing the sunlight to enter the dark aircraft. Rhodey and the medic had forced him to sit on a ridiculous wheelchair as if he couldn't walk by himself, but as soon as he could he got up, ignoring it. This was his triumphant return and he would not be sitting on a wheelchair like an invalid.

Slowly, and very theatrically in his opinion, the plane's doors finally finished opened. The sun was bright and he cursed his lack of sunglasses, but nothing could ruin that vision for him, not even near blindness.

Pepper was crying for him. Tears… For him. That was something he thought he would never see.

Rhodey grabbed his arm and helped him to walk out of the plane. It's not like he needed it, but it would be embarrassing if he felt dizzy and fell down, so he didn't reject it. He did, however, immediately reject the army doctors approaching them with a stretcher.

"Are you kidding me with this?!" he exclaimed to Rhodey. "Get rid of them."

Barely looking at them again, Tony continued walking alone, staring fixedly at Pepper's red eyes.

"Hum… Your eyes are red," he pointed out with an indifference he didn't feel. "A few tears for your long-lost boss?"

"Tears of joy," Pepper replied immediately. "I hate job hunting."

It was a little embarrassing how Tony missed those little conversations.

"Happy, how are you doing?" he asked, turning to his faithful bodyguard. "Crying too?"

"Every day, sir."

"As you should. Well, vacation is over, we have a job to do."

And as surely as his name was Tony Stark, this would be amazing.

* * *

 **Auschwitz, Poland - April 9** **th** **, 1944**

Diana grabbed a huge portion of the collapsed ceiling and lifted it with ease, tossing it to the side. She sighed; the lab was a mess. There were bodies everywhere, debris, blood and dust. It looked like a war-zone, very likely because it was one. The place a littered with every kind of object.

Except any clues that would lead them to Ares.

Frustrated, Diana kicked a huge machine, her foot making a dent on the metal surface. All this work would be for nothing? She refused to believe that! It had to be something. Anything! Otherwise they would have to admit this mission was a failure and Diana did not want to do that.

Well, 'failure' was a strong word. The Death Camp was destroyed, the people were free. That had to count for something.

After the lab was secured, they left it with a small guard and went to help the prisoners outside. The fighting was not nearly as brutal as what they faced inside the lab, but it was longer and, if Diana wanted to be honest, more gratifying. She enjoyed helping people and those prisoners needed her help.

Their intention hadn't been to start a revolution, just a distraction, but with Diana and Captain America's help that was what happened. The Nazis retreated, some surrendered, and by the time the Allied Forces arrived the camp was already theirs. Saving those people… This, at least, had been a victory.

"You still haven't found what you are looking for, Lady Diana?" she heard Erik asking from behind her.

She allowed herself to smile. Erik was a kind child, a child that had suffered what no one should in that very lab. And, apparently, a child that could create magnetic fields strong enough to lift several tons of metal in the air.

Diana had never seen something like that. Magic she'd seen. Divine power too. A mortal with these abilities? This was new. And he wasn't the only one. James Howlett, according to Bucky and Dugan, could heal himself and, apparently, had bone claws coming out of his hands. Was he a crossbreed? A descendent of some legendary creature? The offspring of a nymph?

There were stories of Celestial beings that used to seed life on whatever planets they visited, but she would have to study more about this later.

"Not yet, Erik," Diana finally answered. "And call me 'Diana'!"

"Sorry, I forgot!" the boy replied, quickly. He looked around. "Where is Captain Rogers?"

Diana smiled fondly as she thought about Steve.

"Sleeping," she said. "I finally forced him to rest for a bit." She looked at him. "Are you rested as well?"

"I just woke up!" he hurried to say.

Erik walked by her side while she investigated the lab, seemingly uncomfortable to be there.

"Why are you here if it makes you feel uncomfortable?" Diana finally asked.

He was in silence for a while.

"It's more uncomfortable out there," he finally said. "Too many people. Too many dead."

Diana wouldn't argue with that.

"What _are_ you looking for, Diana?" Erik asked after a long moment without speaking. "I was here for a while, I can probably help you find it."

She smiled fondly at him.

"I am searching for clues, Erik," she said. "Clues that might point us in the direction of the Red Skull whereabouts."

The boy was quiet for a while, thinking; she thought it was adorable the way he was trying so hard to help.

"Well, he was here the day before you arrived," he said.

That made her turn fast.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"I said he was here—"

"Why didn't you say anything?!" she interrupted.

Erik froze. "I-I didn't know you wanted to know."

Diana hid her face behind her hands, holding a groan. It wasn't his fault, that was true, it was theirs; but she _was_ frustrated nevertheless. She dashed to his side, kneeling in front of him.

"Did you hear him speaking?" Diana asked. "Did you hear him saying anything about what their plans were?"

Erik seemed to think for a few seconds.

"He was here to see the progress made on those creatures," he finally answered. "He talked to Dr. Zola about it. Then… Then he left with Dr. Zola and his research about the monsters."

"What else?" Diana asked, frantic. "Did he say anything else?"

Erik though for a couple more seconds. "Oh! He said something about 'welcoming a god into our world', but I don't know what that means."

Welcoming a god into our world… What was Ares planning? Did he have an accomplice? Could he be planning to make an army of gods? Diana had no idea what any of that meant, but they needed to find out urgently.

"I just remembered, he said something else too, just as he was leaving!" Erik exclaimed, suddenly. He looked into her eyes. "He said it was time that the land of the Panther entered the war. Does that make any sense to you?"

That did make sense to Diana.

* * *

 **Washington, DC, Peggy Carter's Apartment -** **March 28** **th** **, 2010**

Diana, Peggy and Natalia couldn't take their eyes from the TV.

"… _And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International…"_

There were simply no words to describe how shocked Diana felt at that moment, as she watched Tony Stark, only son of her brother Howard Stark, announcing to the world that Stark Industries would not make weapons anymore.

Natalia looked at her and Peggy, a small grin on her face.

"Well, is it already too late to sell your shares of Stark Industries?" she joked.

It probably was, she considered, but as Diana watched Tony making this decision she couldn't feel prouder.

* * *

 **Hey, guys, long time no see! I'm really, really sorry for taking so long to update, but I'm working like crazy these days and I'm feeling too tired to write as often as I did. Hopefully things improve from now on.**

 **I wanted to apologize to all those PMs and reviews that I haven't answered yet, but I want you guys to know that I've read them all and I will answer as soon as I have the time. Thank you for your kindness. Please, review, favorite, follow… I hope you are all doing great!**


	18. Chapter 18 - Brave New World

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 18 – Brave New World**

 **Stark Industries Headquarters, Los Angeles, California – March 28** **th** **, 2010**

The soft hum of the immense arc reactor was weirdly relaxing, as was the blue glow inside of it. Tony allowed it to take over his senses for a while, basking in the brief, but very needed, moment of peace his father's invention was providing him. At the moment, there was only him and the arc reactor, nothing else mattered.

Certainly not the very pissed off shareholders, the Army or Obie.

Nope, at that moment, Tony was free and at peace, completely unconcerned about his decision or its consequences. He was pretty sure that was how religious people felt when they were in a church, filled with that sense of total harmony, as if they had found their place in the universe.

All that was shattered when the door opened and Obadiah Stane stepped in, smoking a cigar.

He walked in with purpose, glancing at Tony; then he stopped, hands at his waist.

"Well, that… That went well," he finally said, holding his cigar in his mouth.

Tony couldn't exactly argue with that.

"Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" he joked, though the question was very serious. He couldn't even begin to wonder the number of people furious with his decision to stop developing weapons.

"Your head?" Obie asked, walking to him. "What about my head? What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?"

Suddenly, Tony felt trapped; with his one free hand — the other arm still properly immobilized by the doctor who checked him — he took out his tie and tossed it over his jacket, already folded over the handrail separating them from the arc reactor.

"Huh, optimistically, 40 points," he guessed.

"At minimum!"

"Yep…"

Obie sighed and stopped by his side, grabbing the handrail in front of them.

"Tony, we're weapons manufacturer," he began.

Tony looked at him, trying to find the words to explain something he didn't even know if he could understand. _He_ wasn't sure if he understood. During his entire life, Tony had never questioned the business that built his fortune. Sure, war was bad and all, he knew that as a kid, but Stark Industries was helping the world, making it safer. Wasn't his father, Howard Stark, a hero for helping the Allied Forces during WWII? Weren't his inventions one of the main reasons the soviets were kept at bay during the Cold War? Stark Industries kept America and the rest of the world protected and he was, without a doubt, the biggest responsible for that.

At least that was what he believed in. Before he ended up with pieces of his own weapons inside his chest.

From where he was standing, back in Afghanistan, things didn't look so safe. The weapons he developed, his own prized inventions, were being used by terrorists. Innocent people were being killed by the same bombs his company had made. American soldiers, the very ones protecting him, were slaughtered by _his_ guns. It was _his_ company that built the missile that had almost killed him. _His_ projects that were killing people all over Middle East and who knew where else.

Yinsen's death was on his hands and god only knew how many others were too. It was difficult to keep believing in his own version of the truth when he had seen all that with his own eyes.

"Obie, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy," he interrupted, trying to convey what he was feeling.

"That's what we do, we're iron mongers, we make weapons," Obie argued, immediately.

"It's my name on the side of the building," Tony countered.

His name on the side of the building, his name printed on the bombs taking lives.

"What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos."

"Not based on what I saw," he responded. "We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better, we're gonna do something else."

"Like what? You want us to make baby bottles?" Obie asked, sarcastically.

Tony sighed, then glanced at his side, at the arc reactor.

"I think we should take another look into arc reactor technology," he announced.

"Oh, come on, the arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Tony, come on, we built that thing to shut the hippies up!"

"It works," he argued.

"Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective, we knew that before we built it." He looked at Tony. "Arc reactor, that's a dead end, right?"

"Maybe," Tony answered, noncommittally.

"Huh, am I right?" Obie pushed. "We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years?"

"That's what they say." Tony stared at Obie for a few seconds. "Could you have a lousier poker face? Just tell me, who told you?"

"Never mind who told me, show me," he demanded, swinging his cigar.

"It's Rhodey or Pepper," Tony guessed.

"I want to see it."

"Okay, Rhodey," Tony concluded.

And saying this, he began to open his shirt, slowly, glancing at his sides to confirm that they were alone; no one needed to know about this. The blue light began to shine from his chest and Obie's face glowed almost as bright for a second, before he managed to hide his fascination.

"Okay, okay," he said, helping him close the shirt again. He opened a big smile and chuckled, thrilled with his breakthrough; Tony couldn't help but feel a little proud.

"It works," he assured.

"Listen to me, Tony," he started, passing his arm over Tony's shoulders, "we're a team. Do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I."

Tony rolled his eyes, understanding where he was getting at. "I'm sorry I didn't give you the heads-up, okay? But if I had—"

"Tony, Tony, no more of this 'ready, fire, aim' business, you understand me?"

He turned to Obie. "That was dad's line."

Obie raised his eyebrows, as if glad that he had noticed.

"You gotta let me handle this," he said. "We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're gonna have to take a lot of heat. I want you to promise me that you're gonna to lay low…"

Obie kept talking, but his attention was already elsewhere. Lay low… He could that, for now. After all, he had some projects in mind that he was not yet ready to share with people, some ideas he was toying with ever since he woke up during his travel back home.

As well as a mystery savior to find. Laying low would suit him just fine.

* * *

 **Diana's Apartment, Washington, DC – March 29** **th** **, 2010**

" _Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready?! Sell, sell, sell! ABANDON SHIP!_ " the overexcited man on the television yelled, proceeding to explain the 'new Stark Industries business plan' by smashing a cup with a baseball bat.

"Good Lord, I think I'll never understand American television," Peggy exclaimed, eyes wide.

Diana smiled. "I don't get this whole television thing at all. I much prefer the radio, to be honest." She stopped for a second. "But I do enjoy movies. I sill can't believe how nice they look with colors on. Oh! This is good!"

Saying this, she reached over, extending her whole body as much as she could, careful not to fall from the portable stairs. She grunted in effort, but finally felt her fingers closing around the object.

A shining silver sword glowed under the light of her safe-room.

"How about this?" Diana asked, spinning the sword lightly between her fingers. "A Wakandan sword. I actually used this for a while, before finding my current one."

"I wouldn't trust that much vibranium even with a bank," Peggy answered immediately. She stopped for a second. " _Especially_ with a bank."

Diana sighed. "You're right. And I don't feel comfortable parting with it."

"Why don't you try that mask over there?" Peggy suggested.

Following her eyes, Diana gazed at a panther mask displayed on her wall. It was a very beautiful piece, gifted to her after they helped Wakanda fight off Schmidt's invasion, made from a very dark kind of wood. Truth be told, Diana didn't really want to lend that to the Smithsonian, but it would be only for a little while; it was worth her job, she admitted.

"You need to learn to hoard less," Peggy pointed out, amused by the conflict in her face, no doubt. "Otherwise you'll turn into a fat dragon in no time."

"We both know that's not possible," Diana countered, coming down from the stairs. Nevertheless, she placed the panther mask over the table, together with several other Wakandan works of art from her own collection.

That was, after all, the deal Peggy made with the Smithsonian in her behalf. Or rather, the excuse she used to explain why Diana had simply disappeared for a month while she searched for Tony. According to what she told them, Diana was securing an exhibition of Wakandan artifacts, so there she was, gathering her personal pieces to borrow to the museum.

She knew it was just for a little while, but it pained her heart to just give them these pieces.

"You'll have them back in no time, Princess, stop worrying!" Peggy exclaimed and only then Diana finally moved away from the table, locking the safe-room behind her and sitting by Peggy's side.

"Happy now?" she asked.

"Very. Want some biscuit?" Peggy asked, offering her a plate full of several of types of biscuits.

Diana frowned, but grabbed some, turning to the TV.

"How are you watching this?" she finally questioned. "This man is incredibly annoying."

"Oh, I know, but I wanted to see what people were saying about Tony."

About Tony's decision in stopping Stark Industries from building weapons, Diana added in her mind, smiling. She thought she would never see the day when that happened. Howard Stark made many inventions non-related to the weapon-making business, that was true, but the core of his company was always that and it never occurred him to change his perspective.

It was really surprising that his son, from all people, would see things differently.

What had he experienced during captivity? Was it so bad to make him turn away completely from something he had never questioned? Would it last? Diana didn't have the answers to that, but she truly hoped Tony meant what he said. He had so much more potential in that "Stark mind" of his than to just invent better ways to kill people.

"I don't think the board will approve of this," Peggy mentioned, making Diana look at her. "It's a complete change of the company's business, they'll never let this go through, not without one hell of a fight."

Diana's eyes widened. "Isn't he the owner?!"

Peggy just smiled. "It doesn't work like that, Princess. Shareholders have their rights too. They invested in the company, after all."

"Well, I'm a shareholder and I approve wholeheartedly!" she countered, as if that would help anything.

The ex-SHIELD agent turned to her, as if measuring just how much she meant that.

"Well, maybe I can make some calls," she said. "I do know some of the members of the board. Are you willing to buy some stocks? And by 'some', I mean _a lot_."

Diana smiled. "They _are_ cheap right now."

Peggy chuckled.

"Oh, bloody hell, let's do this!" she exclaimed, getting up. "God knows it's the only kind of fun I can have these days."

* * *

 **London – April 11** **th** **, 1944**

Diana could hear the heated discussion in the nearby room, the mixed voices of Steve, Peggy, Howard and Colonel Philips sounding as clear as if they were by her side. She sighed; that had been going for a while now and she was honestly fed up with it. She believed in Erik that the Red Skull was plotting to attack Wakanda, she knew he wasn't lying.

But no, apparently that wasn't enough for them to plan a whole defense plan and act.

According to Colonel Philips, an entire mobilization of the Allied Forces just couldn't happen based on a "possible scenario brought up by a traumatized child".

Well, maybe he was right, but they weren't asking for the Allied Forces to go there, only the Howling Commandos!

"Listen to me, Schmidt can't enter Wakanda!" she heard Howard say. "Believe me, I know, I've already tried, together with Erskine! The whole place is surrounded by an impenetrable rain forest, you can't march an army through there! And what would he gain? A bit of vibranium he would have to mine? Some herb that might or might not help him to stabilize the Super-Soldier Serum? It's too risky!"

Diana scoffed. Ares wasn't after vibranium or that herb, she knew it. It had something to do with "welcoming a god into the world", according to what Erik heard. But it wasn't like they had listened to her when she pointed that out…

"And yet, it's the only clue we have," Steve argued, his voice completely calm. "We need to check it out."

"What could Schmidt do with the herb and the vibranium?" Colonel Philips asked.

"Well, vibranium is extremely versatile," Howard said. "It can be used in virtually anything. Take his weapons, for example. That 'Mjölnir' cannon they made needed time to cooldown, so the whole thing wouldn't just melt into a puddle after several shots. With vibranium I'm sure they could develop something to shield the cannon from the heat. They would arguably be able to shoot that city destroyer nonstop."

"Oh, that is just what we need," she heard Peggy mumbling.

"They could make more powerful weapons as well, since the energy backlash would be irrelevant," Howard continued. "Armor virtually indestructible and very light is within the realm of possibilities too. As for the herb, well… With that in hands it is possible that Zola could find a way to replicate the Super-Soldier Serum."

There was a brief silence.

"And your advice is for us to ignore that?" Colonel Philips asked.

"No!" Howard countered. "I'm just saying that the Red Skull won't be able to get in Wakanda! And even if he does… Colonel, Wakanda is poor for a reason. They might have a little vibranium, but not _nearly_ enough to make a difference. And the herb? I heard about it from Erskine and he heard about it from stories and myths. It might not even be real and even if it is, it might be completely unsuitable for what they want it."

"But there is a chance?" Steve asked.

"There is a chance a meteor will fall over Hitler and his entire high command, effectively ending the war, but I would also not count on it," Howard replied.

Colonel Philips breathed deeply. "Agent Carter, did you have any success in contacting King Azzuri?"

"My men were not able to cross the border, sir," Peggy answered. "And honestly, I don't think the border guards are taking our warning very seriously, if their lack of response means anything."

"See? They know they don't have anything the Red Skull wants," Howard stated.

"I'm not sure that's it," Peggy said, hesitantly. "I think they believe Wakanda doesn't need any help in defending themselves."

Diana stopped paying attention when the whole thing developed into an almost shouting match again. There _was_ a reason why she wasn't in there anymore; lack of action made her itchy. Instead of worrying herself anymore, certain that Steve and Peggy would find a way for them to help Wakanda, Diana turned to the other person sitting in the room with her, Erik.

She smiled. The boy was holding Steve's shield, his eyes closed, as he lightly passed his hand over its surface; the shield seemed to ripple with endless waves, like a peaceful lake would when hit by a rock. Diana was still marveled by his ability, something she thought she would never see in Man's World.

That was exactly the reason why they saw fit to bring him to the SSR HQ with them; who knew what would happen to Erik if he was sent to an orphanage. He was safer there.

"This metal feels… smooth," Erik said, opening his eyes. "It's like it can follow my every command without the need to even think about it. Like it's a part of me."

Saying this, he put the shield carefully on the floor and turned to her Godkiller sword, passing his hand slowly over its blade.

"Your sword feels stubborn," he said, frowning at her.

Diana laughed. "Stubborn?"

"It doesn't obey me like it should," Erik argued. "It's like it's fighting me."

"Must be the magic imbued in it," Diana guessed. "It was made by the gods, after all."

Erik didn't say anything in response, he just kept trying to extend his power over her sword. Diana knew he could do it, he had before, but the Amazon steel didn't seem to respond to him like the vibranium did.

"The Red Skull said something like that," Erik said, suddenly, looking at her. "He touched me after I showed him my power and he said: 'Are you blessed by a god as well, I wonder?'. Is it true?" He stared at her. "Are the gods real? Did they do this to me?"

Diana touched his head, caressing his hair delicately. Part of her still couldn't believe in how much Erik and the others in the Death Camps had suffered. They were captured, kept into horrible places, forced to work, tortured, experimented upon, killed… Ares had a lot to answer for and if Diana had anything to say about it, he would pay all that a hundredfold.

"The gods are real," Diana started, "and they were here, in this world, long before humans. They helped humanity, guided them, protected them… I believe you were blessed by those we call Celestials."

"Who are they?" he whispered.

"Old entities, ancient even, that used to wander the cosmos seeding life, blessing those they found worthy, creating planets and even dispensing justice and punishment," Diana explained. "Some of them visited Earth a long time ago. I believe you belong to a lineage blessed by them."

Erik was in silence for a while, thinking about what she said.

"Are you like me?" Erik asked.

"I was given life by another god, Zeus," Diana answered. "He was the one who created my people, the Amazons."

"The Greek god?!" he exclaimed. "The king of gods?"

Diana smiled. "Yes. Though in a certain way, I suppose we are similar."

That seemed to please him. Erik looked back at Steve's shield, playing with the vibranium as if he didn't even notice what he was doing. Then he stopped.

"If gods are real, why did they let that happen to us?" he asked and Diana was sure she wouldn't have listened to him if not for her enhanced hearing.

She grabbed his chin, making him look at her.

"Not all gods are good, Erik. Some of them revel in the cruelty of men. Some of them inspire it. That's why I'm here. And that is why I have this."

Saying this, Diana grabbed Godkiller, showing it to him.

"The one that did this to you will pay, Erik, this I swear."

He looked at her without saying anything for a few seconds, then he closed his eyes; a few tears began to run down his face. That broke her heart. Kneeling by his side, she put Godkiller down and embraced Erik.

"I cannot change what happened to you," she whispered, "but I can promise you that I will seek justice. You are safe now."

Erik stayed in her arms for a few minutes, without saying anything. She could feel his tears falling upon her, but the boy was doing his best to be strong. Finally, with one last tear, he looked up and nodded.

"Go wash your face," Diana said, trying to dry his tears. "Have you already eaten?" He shook his head. "Then go clean yourself up and after you do we'll eat."

Nodding again, Erik turned and left the room.

"Big words," a rough voice said from the other corner of the room. "Think you can live up to them?"

Diana heard someone entering the room as she held Erik, but she didn't know who until he spoke. James Howlett, the soldier who provided them with all the information necessary for their attack.

And also, a man who, according to Bucky and Dugan, couldn't die. She found that to be very curious indeed.

"I know I can," she answered, turning to look at him. "Ares will die."

James frowned. "Ares?"

"The Red Skull. That is the form he chose to walk upon the Earth again."

He frowned even more, then chuckled, grabbing a cigar from his pocket.

"Whatever," he said, lighting it. He tasted the smoke for a second, a pleased expression on his face; Diana turned her nose, bothered by the strong smell, just as when Dugan smoked those things. "So, tell me, how can someone survive jumping out of a plane and even destroy an entire building using just her body?"

She raised a single eyebrow. "How can someone survive a grenade blast in his belly?"

James walked to her, the lit cigar held on his lips. He had shaved after getting back to London, but his dark beard was already starting to grow back. He was wearing his uniform, except for the upper part, clad into a sleeveless white shirt; he was as muscled as Steve, but not as tall. All in all, James Howlett was an intimidating man.

Except not to her.

"You are like me," he said, finally, after a long stare contest. "And the kid. What was that they called us? Mutants?"

"I am not a mutant, I am an Amazon," Diana clarified.

"Amazon?" he asked. "That a fancy name for woman warrior? Because I'm sure one thing doesn't exclude the other."

"I was given life by Zeus, James Howlett. My mother and my sisters were created by him to protect mankind. You and Erik are different."

"That's a bunch of bullsh–"

"What's going on here?" Steve interrupted, his voice unusually hard; it took her a second to notice that he was staring fixedly at James.

James, however, didn't seem intimidated in the least. He just glanced at Steve for a moment, then turned back, moving away from her.

"Just having a word with the… _Amazon_ , Capitan," he said. "Nothing that you need to concern yourself with."

Steve kept staring at him, eyes just as hard.

"Put that out, this is not a place for smoking," he ordered, walking to Diana.

James groaned, but did as he asked; except he did it on his own skin, to Diana's surprise. His hand burned, blistering, and then it just healed, as if never happened. Diana was impressed. Were all those blessed by the Celestials so powerful?

She was distracted from that line of thought – and the lingering smell of burnt flesh – when Peggy also entered the room.

"Captain Howlett, may I have a word with you?" Peggy asked.

He glanced at Peggy, his nostrils expanding for a bit as if he was smelling the air, then walked to her, leaving the room together with Peggy. Steve followed both of them with his eyes, still unusually severe.

"Was he bothering you?" he asked, suddenly, looking at her.

Diana scoffed. "I can take care of myself, Steve."

Steve sighed. "I know you can Diana, I just… I don't like the way he looks at you."

She frowned, not understanding.

"He looks at me the same way he looks at Peggy," she argued.

"I noticed," Steve replied, his voice weirdly tense.

Diana was lost. James Howlett wasn't a particularly pleasant man, but he did not strike her as evil. Still, Steve seemed worried for some reason; she decided to put his mind at ease.

"Steve, like I said, I can take care of myself. Even if Mr. Howlett was an enemy, which I do not believe he is, I am certain I can defeat him."

Steve sighed again, taking his hand to his forehead.

"That's not… You know what, forget I said anything."

She smiled, glad to see it worked.

"So, did you decide what is our course of action?" Diana asked.

Steve nodded.

"We are going to Wakanda," he announced.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – March 29** **th** **, 2010**

Virginia "Pepper" Potts was suffering from a throbbing headache. She wasn't sick, as far as she knew, and it wasn't like she was unaccustomed to the insane hours her job forced on her, so she couldn't blame that on being tired either. No, her headache had a face and a name: Tony Stark.

People could say what they wanted about Tony, but he did know how to make an entrance.

Being back from Afghanistan, somehow escaping his kidnappers, would already be global news for at least an entire year. But, of course, Tony Stark wouldn't settle just with that. Oh no, he also decided to announce, on the very day of his return, that Stark Industries would stop making weapons.

The announcement went over as expected. Stocks dropped, the US Army panicked, the entire stock market was in uproar, rival companies were thrilled and lost at the same time and the general public was simply stunned and desperate for news. Her phone wouldn't stop ringing and people were pursuing her nonstop in search of information that she didn't have; she had almost lost count of how many government agencies approached her wanting to debrief Mr. Stark.

Sighing, Pepper closed her eyes, trying to ignore the noise from the people talking on the huge television in front of her; speaking, of course, about her boss. Theories about what would happen were flying around the media as "specialists" tried to predict the future of Stark Industries; theories that ranged from the outlandish to the absolute ridiculous.

Yes, Tony Stark did know how to make an entrance, there was no doubt about that. Still, Pepper wouldn't trade this for anything, not when the alternative was Tony dead.

She could still remember the complete desperation she felt when Tony was kidnapped. Shock, at first, followed by fear, then rage at the simply lack of information about him. Tony wasn't simply her boss, not anymore, he was her friend. Pepper couldn't exactly tell _when_ that happened. Somehow, Tony Stark went from being intimidating, to charming, then to annoying and finally to friendly and Pepper only noticed when she thought she lost him.

The truth was, Pepper didn't really have many friends, not with the sheer amount of work she had, and Tony was one of the few.

Of course he was still narcissistic, arrogant and a womanizer and sometimes Pepper wanted nothing more than to _throttle_ him, but he was a friend and having him back filled her with joy. Even with all that entailed.

Pepper couldn't begin to think what went over in his mind, but whatever happened in Afghanistan had affected him. This announcement was part of that, no doubt. The jokes and the mannerisms were still the same, but the man she saw in that press conference was not the Tony Stark she knew.

If it was an improvement, she didn't know, but she was willing to endure her massive headache to find out.

" _Pepper!_ " Tony's voice called from the tablet in front of her, snapping her out of her musings. " _How big are your hands?_ "

She was sure she'd misheard him.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

" _How big are your hands?_ "

She hadn't misheard him.

"I don't underst–"

" _Get down here, I need you._ "

Pepper was certain she would regret going down to the lab, but that didn't stop her.

* * *

"Hey," Tony greeted, as Pepper entered the lab.

She looked as shocked as he imagined she would be when gazing at the arc reactor glowing in his chest. It said a lot about her professionalism that Pepper never faltered when going to him, even as her face grew more and more stunned.

"Let's see them," he asked, trying to calm her down. "Show me your hands." Still speechless, she raised both her hands. "Oh, wow, they are small. Very petit, indeed. I just, um, need your help for a sec."

Arriving by his side, glancing from the beeping heart rate monitor to him, Pepper finally got her voice back.

"Oh my god, is that the thing keeping you alive?!" she exclaimed, looking at the arc reactor in his chest.

"It was," Tony answered, raising the new arc reactor he just made in his left hand. "It is now an antique." He showed her the new one, glowing even brighter. "This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it up for an upgraded unit and I just ran into a little speed bump."

"Speed bump?" she repeated, slowly. "What does that mean?"

"It's nothing, it's just a little snag," he calmed her. "There's an exposed wire under this device," he pointed at the arc reactor in his chest, "and it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short…"

He pulled it out, snapping a wire; Pepper almost jumped back.

"It's fine," he assured her, giving Pepper the removed arc reactor.

"W-What do you want me to do?!" she exclaimed.

"Put that on the table over there, that is irrelevant," he said, dismissive of his old tech.

"Oh my god!" she said, again, doing what he said.

"I just want you to reach in and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out," he said, in his calmest voice.

"Is it safe?" she asked.

"Yeah, it should be fine," he reassured her. "It's like 'Operation', you just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes 'beep'."

"What do you mean 'Operation'?"

"It's just a game, never mind. Just gently lift the wire. Okay? Great."

"Okay," she said.

Pepper was pale as snow, Tony could see it clearly under that light. Still, with relatively firm hands, she reached the hole in chest; only to bring them back as if zapped by an electrical jolt.

"You know, I-I don't think I'm qualified to do this," Pepper stammered.

"No, you're fine," Tony guaranteed, his tone extremely soft. He stared in her eyes. "You are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met. You're gonna do great."

Her expression softened a bit, but she obviously could see that he was trying very hard to convince her.

"Is it too much of a problem to ask?" Tony questioned. "'Cause I really need your help here."

"Okay, okay!"

Pepper reached with her hand again, incredibly tense, putting it into his chest very slowly. Until there was a wet sound.

"Oh, there's pus!" she said, horrified.

"It's not pus," he corrected, immediately. "It's an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device, not from my body."

His explanation did nothing to comfort her, apparently.

"Ah! It smells!"

"Yeah, it does," he simply agreed. Her hand should be almost all the way down, he considered, ignoring the way she was turning away from him. "The cooper wire, the cooper wire, you got it?"

There was a second of silence. "Okay, I got it! I got it!"

"Now, don't let it touch the sides when you're coming out–HAAA!" he yelled, zapped by the shock.

Pepper very nearly jumped when he yelled and the heart rate monitor beeped at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"That's what I was trying to tell you before," he said, quickly, as she began to pull it out. "Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't pull out the magnet at the end of it–" The magnet came out completely. "That was it, you just pulled it out."

"What? Oh god!" Pepper was beginning to freak out.

"Okay, I was not expecting–" She moved to put it back in. "Don't put it back in! Don't put it back in!"

"What do I do?!"

Tony could feel his chest hurting as his heart began to stop.

"What's wrong?!" she asked, frantically.

"Nothing, I'm just going into cardiac arrest 'cause you yanked it like a trout," he answered, trying to ignore the continuous beeping.

"What?! You said it was safe!"

"You gotta hurry," he said, trying to move things forward before he lost consciousness. "Take this, take this!" He put the new arc reactor in her hands. "You gotta switch it out really quick."

"Okay, okay," Pepper repeated, then she looked at him. "Tony, it's going to be okay."

Was she really trying to reassure him as his heart stopped beating? That was thoughtful of her.

"Is it?"

"I'm gonna make this okay," she affirmed.

"Let's hope," he answered, his voice getting weaker. She grabbed the wire and approached the hole in his chest. "Okay, you're gonna attach that to the base plate. Make sure you–AHHHH!"

The monitor stopped beeping and the energy came back to his body as his heart began to beat normally again. He looked at Pepper, still frozen with her hands over the arc reactor.

"Was that so hard?" he asked. "That was fun, right? Here, I got it, I got it. Here." He twisted the arc reactor until there was a little 'click'. "Nice."

Pepper could only stare at him, still paralyzed, her hands held in front of her glistening with the plasmic discharge.

"Are you okay?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, I feel great," he answered immediately. "Are you okay?"

The outraged expression on her face sent him into fits of laughter.

"Don't ever, ever, ever, _ever_ ask me to do anything like this again," she said, but the small smile on her lips told him she was fine. A little bit dazed, but fine.

Tony looked fixedly at her for a second.

"I don't have anyone but you," he answered, simply.

Neither of them knew what to say about that, so they remained in silence.

Pepper turned to clean her hands and he began to remove all the wires plugged to him, so he could get out of the chair.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Pepper asked, showing him the old arc reactor.

"That?" he spared a single glance at it. "Destroy it. Incinerate it."

For some reason, his answer surprised her.

"You don't want to keep it?" she asked.

"Pepper, I've been called many things. 'Nostalgic' is not one of them."

Pepper glanced at the glowing arc reactor one more time, then looked at him.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"That will be all, Miss Potts."

As she turned to leave, Tony couldn't help but to think he said something wrong.

* * *

 **Afghanistan – March 30** **th** **, 2010**

Raza Hamidmi Al-Wazar knew he was living on borrowed time. As he walked through the desert with the few loyal men he still had left, the blazing sun burning his shaved head, Raza looked around, searching for something. Searching for _anything_ that could buy him his forgiveness.

Kidnapping Tony Stark had been a mistake. He saw the opportunity to raise above his rank in the Ten Rings and he took it, expecting to be able to offer the Mandarin a gift so valuable that his leader would certainly ignore his transgression and reward him. It was a bold move, but one he took it without hesitation.

Now, he was deeply regretting it.

Not only Tony Stark had escaped without building a single weapon for them, he also had attracted the attention of the entire world to the Ten Rings. More importantly, he had somehow attracted the attention of the Godkiller.

Raza had no idea why, but Godkiller hunted them down like animals throughout the world while looking for Tony Stark and eventually she found her way to the Mandarin himself.

There would be no mercy after that, Raza was aware. His actions had not granted him a reward; instead, it granted him and his men the ultimate punishment. The Mandarin wanted him dead for his mistakes. Godkiller wanted him dead. The US Army wanted him dead. Raza was being hunted by everyone and he had nowhere to go.

Not unless he could find something valuable enough to grant him forgiveness; or at the very least a quick death.

Tony Stark might've not built the Jericho Missile he wanted, but in his desire for freedom he might have built something better. An armor so powerful that allowed him to, single-handedly, escape from his grasp. An armor that killed his men like they were nothing. An armor that had scarred his face, marking Raza forever.

Something like that in the hands of the Ten Rings could change the entire balance of power in the world.

The East would fall under the Mandarin and soon, so would the West. Not even Godkiller would dare face them with an army like that. Maybe, just maybe, if Raza was able to find the pieces of that armor and rebuilt it… Maybe the Mandarin would give him a second chance.

When one of his men yelled, raising a steel mask in the air, Raza knew fate was smiling upon him.

* * *

 **United States Air Force Base, Los Angeles – March 30** **th** **, 2010**

"The future of air combat? Is it manned or unmanned?"

Tony smiled a bit when he heard Rhodey giving his practiced speech to the new members of the Air Force, certain that he had already heard those same words more than once. He walked between the airplanes, following the voice.

"I'll tell you, in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome or a pilot's judgment."

The recruits, all gathered in formation in front of a plane, seemed impressed, at least, Tony considered; there had to be a reason Rhodey used that speech every time, after all. Grinning, he decided to step in.

"Colonel? Why not a pilot without the plane?" Tony asked, walking past the new recruits in Rhodey's direction.

"Look who fell out of the sky!" Rhodey joked, pointing at him. "Mr. Tony Stark."

He shook the hands of the pilots closer to him, glancing at his friend for a moment before grinning again.

"Speaking of manned or unmanned," he began, looking at the pilots, "you gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong at spring break. Just remember that, spring break, 1987." He pointed at Rhodey. "That lovely lady you woke up with. What was _his_ name?"

There was a ripple of laughter from the recruits.

"Don't do that–" Rhodey said.

"Was it Ivan?" Tony interrupted.

"Don't do that, they'll believe it," he said, trying to save his dignity at the same time he was doing his best not to laugh. "Don't do that."

"Pleasure meeting you guys," Tony said, looking at the new pilots.

"Give us a couple minutes, you guys," Rhodey asked, and his men left them, all with big smiles on their faces. He looked at Tony when they were alone. "I'm surprised!"

"Why?" Tony asked, confused.

"I swear I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon."

"I'm doing a little better than walking," Tony corrected.

"Really?

"Yeah." Tony stared seriously at his friend. "Rhodey, I'm working on something big. I came to talk to you, I want you to be a part of it."

As impulsive, and often irresponsible, as Tony might sometimes be, this offer wasn't a spur of the moment thing. What he had in mind was _big_. It could change everything. And it was his attempt to correct some of the very wrong things he had done during his life. Rhodey was his friend, his best friend. Tony would like to have him by his side.

Rhodey opened a big smile.

"You're about to make a whole lot of people around here really happy," he said, "'cause that little stunt at the press conference, that was a doozy."

Wait, what? They were not on the same page there, clearly.

"This is not for the military," Tony began, trying to explain. "I'm not… It's different."

Tony would probably never forget the look Rhodey gave him, as if there was something wrong with him.

"What? You're humanitarian now or something?" Rhodey mocked.

"I need you to listen to me," Tony asked, feeling things were getting out of hand.

"No!" Rhodey interrupted, raising his hand to stop him from talking. "What you _need_ is time to get your mind right. I'm serious."

The smile on Tony's face was the opposite of real. Maybe for the first time in his life, Tony didn't have words to say back. There he was, trying to do something _good_ , something he believed in, something to correct his mistakes, and his best friend basically called him crazy to his face.

Tony would never admit it, but that hurt more than the operation he went through in that godforsaken cave in Afghanistan.

"It's nice seeing you, Tony," Rhodey said, turning around and leaving.

"Thanks," Tony mumbled.

Friends, huh?

* * *

 **Triskelion, Washington, DC – March 30** **th** **, 2010**

" _I still couldn't debrief him, his schedule seems to be filled. Should I keep trying or do you want me to pick him up?_ "

Starks… It wasn't the first time Nicholas "Nick" Joseph Fury dealt with them, obviously, but they never failed to surprise him at how difficult they could make things when they wanted to. Howard Stark had done this for years while he led SHIELD, so Fury should be well prepared for his son; he wasn't. Tony Stark was every bit as complicated as his father was and Fury had the impression he had the potential to be even worse.

Coulson was probably a saint to deal with that and not lose his cool.

"No, keep trying," Fury finally answered. "Let's not resort to that yet, we can always pick him up if we need to know something else."

" _Understood, sir,_ " Coulson answered, hanging up.

Sighing, Fury put his cellphone over his desk and looked through the window of his office; his one eye, however, barely paid any attention to the beautiful view outside the Triskelion, his mind too busy thinking about all the inconsistencies from Stark's kidnapping and eventual escape.

It went without saying that SHIELD was working with everything they had to find Stark when he was kidnapped. Not only he was the son of one of SHIELD's founders, Tony Stark was a genius in the weapon developing business, much like his father was. In the hands of a terrorist organization such as the Ten Rings, that could be disastrous.

The search didn't go well. SHIELD had little information about the Ten Rings and nothing they found was able to lead them closer to Stark. The pressure to find him grew as every single government agency in the world became more and more desperate, not only because Tony Stark was probably being forced to build weapons for the terrorists, but because Stark was responsible for supplying weapons and equipment that kept the American Army powerful. He needed to be found and brought back, at all costs, otherwise the military balance in the world could shift and the results of that were too many to be predicted.

Except that, a month later, to their astonishment, Tony Stark was able to free himself.

The circumstances surrounding his escape were shady, at best, and Stark wasn't exactly concerned about talking. According to him, he used the equipment the terrorists supplied him – so he could build them weapons – to escape. It was vague, non-descriptive and purposely left out any other kind of information, but since Tony Stark was back, people were willing to let it go.

Nick Fury wasn't most people. He wanted to know how exactly Tony Stark had singlehandedly escaped a terrorist organization that powerful. He wanted to know the names, faces and location of those who kidnapped him. He wanted to know if Stark had indeed built them something or imparted any kind of knowledge that could lead to the creation of weapons.

More importantly, he wanted to know why Godkiller was back, apparently searching for him as well.

Godkiller was something of an obsession of Fury and yet, at the same time, it was one of the subjects that he least knew about. And that bothered him. A lot. To most intelligence organizations, the entity known as Godkiller was a ghost story, something used to frighten the ignorant; Fury knew, however, that Godkiller was very real.

He had followed the trail of blood she left behind her. Afghanistan, Rwanda, Russia… Going as far as the end of the World War II. Except that back then, Godkiller was not known by that name.

She was known as Wonder Woman.

That was a precious bit of information Fury acquired from interviewing veterans of the World War, survivors of the Death Camps, civilians rescued… They all spoke of a woman, a Goddess of Justice, so powerful and good that the Nazis had no means to fight her. A true "Wonder Woman".

A Wonder Woman who had fought by the side of Captain America.

And yet, there was no record of it. No database in the world Fury had access to – and he had access to pretty much all of them – had any mention of such woman fighting with Steve Rogers during WWII. More importantly, Howard Stark and Agent Carter never mentioned her. That could only mean one thing: the databases had been erased. And something like that could only have been accomplished from inside.

Whoever this Wonder Woman, this Godkiller was, she was being protected.

Why? What reason could they have to simply destroy any evidence of her existence? Did they know her, owe her something? That occurred to Fury when Wonder Woman – called by the soviets by the name Godkiller – carved her path in Russia after Howard Stark's assassination. They knew each other, it was the only explanation, and that was probably the reason why she had reappeared looking for Tony Stark.

It was the same Modus Operandi. Facilities razed to the ground, dismembered victims or people killed by extreme blunt force, no bullets or explosives used against the hostiles; no innocents caught in the crossfire, never. It was brutal, but extremely efficient.

And not something that any normal human could have accomplished.

What was she? A Super-Soldier? A mutant? A Goddess, as some of the people he talked to claimed? An alien or some kind of human-alien hybrid? Fury knew Agent Carter well enough to realize she wouldn't tell him anything, not when she was the one who had, most likely, erased SHIELD's database. Whoever this Wonder Woman was, Agent Carter trusted her.

Fury, however, couldn't, not when he did not even know what she was, what she wanted and where she lived. He was the Director of SHIELD and the safety of the world was in his hands. That kind of power – and Fury suspected he'd seen only a small sample of it – couldn't be left unchecked. Trust wasn't a privilege he had, not when the safety of Earth depended on him.

The last time he trusted someone, it had cost him an eye. Fury needed to find out more about this Godkiller, of that he had no doubt.

* * *

 **London – April 11** **th** **, 1944**

Steve couldn't help to smile at the sight of the small mountain of food Diana piled up on Erik's plate, far more than even a hungry soldier could eat. By her own admission, she didn't have much practice in dealing with kids – or any practice, really, other than herself – and apparently she was leaning towards the overabundance of care rather than risk starving him.

In Erik's defense, even though the boy widened his eyes at the amount of food, he didn't complain. It seemed the kid preferred to stuff himself rather than disappoint Diana. Steve couldn't exactly blame him, it was difficult saying "no" to her.

They had something in common, apparently.

Around them, in the long table improvised in the middle of the SSR HQ's kitchen, Howard, Bucky, Dugan and Peggy were eating, making sure to fill their stomachs well before traveling to Wakanda to what promised to be another tough mission.

That is, if they could even enter the place at all.

Peggy's contacts had no success in convincing the border guards of Wakanda to allow them entrance, so they could talk to King Azzuri. Apparently, they didn't believe in the seriousness of the threat or, more accurately, they didn't believe they needed help to deal with any kind of threat. Steve wasn't sure if they thought HYDRA was weak or if they thought their army was strong enough, but according to what he knew about both of them, neither statement was true.

HYDRA, as they knew very well, was incredibly dangerous. And Wakanda, as far as Steve knew, was not in any way prepared to deal with them.

They needed to convince the border guards to allow them entrance, otherwise Wakanda's people would suffer under the Red Skull's wrath. And if they didn't allow them to enter, well… Steve believed in following the law, but he also believed in doing good. If they needed to, they would enter Wakanda to help them, with or without their permission.

He hoped it didn't come to that.

"So what do we know about Wakanda, anyway?" Bucky asked, breaking the long silence where only chewing sounds could be heard. "Because, I'm going to be honest, I don't even know where it is."

"You're not losing anything," Howard mumbled with his mouth full, completely uninterested in the conversation. "Bunch of savages with pointy spears and ill temperament."

"You're just mad because they forced you and Erskine to run with your tails between your legs," Peggy pointed out, amused.

"Whatever," Howard said, but didn't correct her. "We were still successful, even without that damn herb. Cap's here to prove it. And we even got enough vibranium to make him a shield. No reason to go back there at all."

"Except the Red Skull," Dugan remembered, smiling at Howard's grumpiness.

"But what do we know about it?" Bucky insisted. "Nothing?"

"Wakanda is ancient, even older than Themyscira," Diana answered, surprising Steve and everybody else with the fact that she even knew Wakanda existed. "Full of history, glory and honor. It is Bast and Sekhmet's greatest pride."

There was a long silence, interrupted only by Diana's cutlery hitting her plate softly as she continued to eat, completely missing the astonished looks around the table.

"I thought you said you never left Themyscira," Steve asked, slowly.

"Oh, I never did!" Diana beamed at him. "But Bast and Sekhmet both have history with the Olympians. The Heliopolitans and the Olympians were allies even before they acquired worshippers on Earth."

"Oh no, more gods…" Howard whined.

"Aren't Bast and Sekhmet Egyptian gods?" Peggy asked, ignoring Howard.

"Well, as much as the Olympians are considered Greek gods," Diana shrugged, also ignoring Howard, except for a single hard look in his direction. "When the first of them arrived on Earth, they did so in the lands we now know as Egypt. That was the first place where they communed with humanity, just as Greece was the first place where the Olympians interreacted with humans."

"So how did they end up in Wakanda?" Steve asked.

He might not believe in the existence of those gods, not like Diana did, but he was interested in history and mythology. It also helped that he liked hearing her talk. By the smile on her face, she also enjoying explaining things to him.

"They did not 'end up' in Wakanda, they created it. Or, rather, they guided the Five Tribes so they could eventually create Wakanda," Diana explained. "They shared their knowledge with them, kept them safe from evil entities, showed them how to unite so they could be stronger together. Wakanda owes them everything."

Steve could see a vein pulsing on Howard's temple as he heard Diana speaking about the Wakandan gods.

"But what's like there?" Bucky asked, still not satisfied with Diana's answer. "Now, I mean."

"I have never been there," Diana answered," but by the stories my mother and my aunt were told, Wakanda is a prosperous land. Beautiful, bountiful, full of happiness. It was also incredibly fierce and wary of other lands, much like Themyscira. Not much is known about them for that very reason."

"Oh my god, they are primitives!" Howard exclaimed, not able to contain himself anymore. "Look, they might have a very nice tale of how their nation came to be, but that's all it is! It doesn't change the fact that they are trusting spears and shields to defend them against HYDRA. Can you imagine? Pitching swords and shields against guns and tanks?"

Diana looked deeply into Howard's eyes; she gave him a blood-chilling grin.

"I do not see a problem with that," she said.

Steve would never forget how Howard's expression just froze as he remembered what Diana could do with her sword. Deciding to have his fun, he tapped his shield placed against his chair.

"Neither do I," Steve added.

There was a round of laughs; Howard rolled his eyes.

"You two are super-soldiers," Howard started, "what you do has more to do with that than with what you wield into battle. I can guarantee you two would be even deadlier if you surrendered to the marvels of technology."

"I disagree," Diana countered, immediately. "There is nothing more powerful than the Godkiller sword. Your guns and your gadgets are no match for it. And they are too noisy," she concluded, as if that last bit was the final nail in the coffin of Howard's argument.

Howard opened his mouth to issue a counter-argument, but before he could Peggy interrupted him.

"By the way, Captain Howlett will participate in this mission with us," she said. "I managed to convince him to help, since we don't know what we'll face in Wakanda."

That news soured Steve's meal. He glanced quickly at Diana, then looked at Peggy.

"I think we can handle whatever the Red Skull has in mind for Wakanda," he pointed out, carefully.

Not carefully enough, by the scalding look Peggy sent his way.

"Steve, the man is insufferable, I know, but he is good at what he does," she said, immediately. "Plus, he can't be killed! That is a useful skill to have at our side."

"We can confirm," Dugan agreed, pointing at Bucky. "Pretty impressive stuff."

Steve sighed, putting his fork down. He had nothing to say against that. Peggy turned and pointed her finger at Erik, currently stuffing his mouth with potatoes in an effort to eat the gigantic plate of food Diana had made for him.

"You are coming with us," she said.

The shocked expression on the boy's face was mirrored by everyone at the table.

"What?!" Bucky exclaimed.

"This is crazy!" Howard said.

"He is a kid, Peggy!" Diana cried.

"I know!" Peggy interrupted, slapping the table. She eyed every single one of them with manic eyes. "I know! Do you think I like the decision to take a child to what could very well become a warzone? I don't! But I like the idea of leaving someone with his powers behind even less." Peggy pointed at Erik again. "He was HYDRA's prisoner. He has the attention of Schmidt. What do you think it will happen when all of us leave him here, alone?"

For a long moment, nobody said anything.

"He will come for me," Erik whispered. He was pale.

Diana grabbed his shoulder, reassuring him. She glanced at Peggy and nodded. They all did, after what Peggy wisely pointed out. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe Erik would stay there, safer than all of them. But maybe HYDRA would come back for him. Steve had no illusions that Schmidt didn't have any spies there. He hoped he didn't, at least in the SSR, but news about Erik's whereabouts would travel far and fast, Steve had no doubt. He didn't understand how Erik could do what he did, what meant to be a "mutant", but he knew HYDRA coveted power and Erik was _very_ powerful. Leaving him unprotected was the same as putting him back in Auschwitz.

Steve would never do that, even if it meant taking Erik with them to Wakanda.

"We are going to keep you safe, Erik, don't worry about it," Steve promised.

Diana smiled at him and ruffled the kid's hair; then she put even more food on his plate.

"If you are going with us, you need to eat," Diana said, kindly, apparently not noticing Erik's terrified eyes.

Or everybody else trying – and mostly failing – to hold their laughs.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 1** **st** **, 2010**

Tony waved his hand over his desk; a blue keyboard lit up as he did it, glowing almost as bright as the new arc reactor in his chest. Typing fast, he glanced up at the three monitors in front of him, displaying lines of code, information, mathematical expressions.

And the blueprints of the suit of armor he built with Yinsen in Afghanistan.

"Jarvis, you up?" Tony asked, knowing very well that his AI was active.

"For you, sir, always," Jarvis answered, with his comforting British accent.

"I'd like to open a new project file, index as Mark II," he said, without stopping to work.

"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries Central Database?" Jarvis questioned.

Tony pressed his digital pen, pointing it at his armor's blueprints on the screen, and then dragged it. Following his command, the blueprints moved from one monitor to the other, until he released it on the table by his side; a green hologram formed from the desk, giving him a digital 3D replica of the armor's blueprint.

He got up and studied it, his eyes focused.

"Actually, I don't know who to trust right now," he answered, finally. "'Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?"

By his voice alone, no one would take this measure as anything more than a strategical decision. And deep down, that's what it was, but the reason behind it wasn't based simply on a rational decision. The truth was that Tony never felt so alone before in his life. Rhodey, knowingly or not, had hurt him. He never had many friends, at any point of his life, but he truly believed that the very few he had, he could count on. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

Rhodey and Obie, two of the people he trusted, had immediately turned their backs at him when he decided to follow a different path, a _right_ path. That got him thinking. Were they truly friends at all? Was the fact he could create incredible killing devices and make a lot of money from selling them the only reason they stayed with him for so long? Because Tony wasn't an idiot, he knew Obie had been furious with him, right up to the moment he saw the arc reactor and new possibilities of profit.

And Rhodey? Was he just using Tony to keep him close to the Army? Was their friendship just a means to an end? Would Pepper leave too if Stark Industries began to lose its power and prestige?

Tony felt embarrassed to fear that. All his life he stood on his own two feet and he never needed anybody; or so he convinced himself. Now that there was a real possibility that he could end up alone, he was terrified and that was ridiculous. Why should he care if they weren't really his friends? Why did the thought of Pepper quitting made him so anxious? She wasn't the first secretary he had, nor would she be the last. In fact, she was just one of a long line. And Rhodey? If the only reason they ever hang out together was because the Army told him to, well, he could go to hell. And so could Obie.

It was simple like that. Or at least he wished it was.

"Working on a secret project, are we, sir?" Jarvis asked, snapping him out of his own thoughts.

Refocusing on his task, Tony grabbed the projection of the rudimentary helmet of his armor and tossed it inside a digital trash bin, the hologram reacting to his touch as if it was real.

"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands," Tony answered, grabbing another piece of the armor and disposing of it. "Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good."

He could only hope he was right.

When he took his hands to the hologram again, his mind focusing on the task, another thought flared inside his head; he widened his eyes.

"Jarvis, while you're at it, do me another favor."

"For you, sir, anything," Jarvis repeated.

"Search every single database you can put your digital hands on for the name 'Godkiller'."

There was a moment of silence.

"I am compelled to warn you, sir, that this is certainly illegal," Jarvis said.

"Then don't get caught," Tony answered, rolling his eyes.

"I will endeavor to do my best, sir," Jarvis assured.

Tony Stark just grinned, forgetting his troubles for a moment. People usually didn't like unsolvable mysteries, but in his opinion, those were the best kind. Especially when you needed something to distract yourself from personal problems.

* * *

 **Themyscira (?) – (?), (?)**

Diana felt the cold wind of the night caressing her face, making her hair flutter. The ocean's smell was comforting and she filled her lungs with it, taking a deep breath, as she watched the stars and the moon reflected on the sea's surface. The waves sang to her. She was sitting on the grass, at the edge of a high peak from where she would see far and wide; behind her, Themyscira glowed with the fires of the lanterns.

Words failed to convey how much she missed her home, her family. Her entire life, Diana wanted to leave, to see other places, to meet Man's World. But not forever. Themyscira could be small, could be too safe and even too cramped sometimes, but it was her home. And she did want to come back, even after leaving with Steve.

Leaving with Steve… She _had_ left with Steve. And she hadn't come back.

For a second, Diana was confused; then she felt her blood turning into ice. Her eyes were not seeing the sky reflected on the ocean anymore, but the weird purple light glowing around everything. Her nose wasn't filled with the sea's smells, it was instead breathing fast now. Her ears weren't comforted by the waves' symphony, but searching for a threat.

There was a sound behind her.

Moving fast, Diana grabbed Godkiller on her back – another thing that made no sense, because she never had the sword while on Themyscira – and turned, ready to fight. And there, in front of her, glowing in the weird purple light that seemed to surround everything, a black panther approached.

It was huge, as tall as Diana was, fierce and dangerous, but extremely graceful. Its paws barely made any sound as the panther walked, eyes fixed on Diana. Then it stopped; Diana raised her sword.

"I apologize for entering your dream, Diana of Themyscira, but I need your help," the panther spoke, its voice resonating throughout all the island.

Diana's eyes widened; and very slowly, she lowered her sword. She knew who was in front of her.

She wasn't in Themyscira, but in London. She had just eaten with Steve, Peggy, Howard, Erik, Bucky and Dugan, a last dinner before they traveled to Wakanda on the next day to stop Ares and his HYDRA.

And the Black Panther in front of her was Bast herself.

* * *

 **Hey guys, new chapter! Tell me what you think about it, review, favorite, follow… Hope all of you are doing great!**


	19. Chapter 19 - New Friends

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 19 – New Friends**

 **Diana's Dream, Themyscira (?) – April 12** **th** **, 1944**

Diana stood, frozen in place, as the immense Black Panther approached her, the dark clawed paws touching the ground without making a sound. At each silent step, the whole island seemed to glow brighter with that purple light, the sea and the sky alike pulsing with it.

Her mother and aunts had told her stories about the gods, how they fought side by side, how they left Olympus to visit them, but this was the first time Diana had ever laid eyes on one. Bast might not be an Olympian, but she was a goddess and one worthy of respect.

So, fighting the shock she was feeling, Diana quickly fell to her knees, Godkiller pointing down.

Bast stopped a few meters from her, her huge dark form casting an immense shadow on her.

"Rise, Diana, Princess of Themyscira," Bast said, her raspy and powerful voice echoing throughout the island. "One as valorous as you should not bow to anyone."

Hesitating for a second, still shocked to her core at what was happening, Diana got up, sheathing her sword. She glanced at Bast, looking up to the enormous panther in front of her, easily bigger than even the tanks she faced during the many battles she fought in the war.

"Do you know who I am, young one?" Bast asked, gently, her glowing blue eyes resting over Diana.

After a brief moment, Diana answered: "You are Bast, the Panther Goddess of Wakanda." She stared at the goddess. "One of the 'Eyes of Ra', as is your sister, Sekhmet."

Diana had never seen an animal smiling, but it was the only word she could think of when she saw Bast's expression; it was either that, or she was deliberately showing Diana her very big, very menacing teeth for some reason. She chose to believe it was a smile.

"Very good, young one, very good," Bast congratulated, speaking as if she was an ancient, wise grandmother rather than an incredibly powerful goddess; well, not that one thing necessarily excluded the other, Diana admitted. "Not many remember that much about us. Not even my children in Wakanda, I am sad to say. Hippolyta was wise to teach you even beyond the Olympians."

"You knew my mother?" Diana asked, surprised.

"Not in person, unfortunately, but tales of her battles reached every corner of this world and even beyond it," Bast answered. "The Amazons were legendary. I am sorry for what happened to them. No one deserves such hardship, the Amazons least of all."

Without knowing what to answer, Diana bowed her head, respectfully. Diana knew the tales of what her people suffered, she wore the Bracelets of Submission to always remember those horrific times, but she had not suffered the same fate her mother and sisters had. Deep down, she knew this didn't make her any less of an Amazon, but it was weird to receive sympathy for something she didn't suffer.

There was a brief silence, as both of them stared at each other; then something occurred to Diana.

"You said you were in my dream," she said, suddenly, looking around. "How did you–"

"Our dreams sometimes touch the Astral Dimension," Bast explained. "We shape it unconsciously, molding the environment to our desires, and to those who know how, we can even access other people's dreams."

"So all this… This is a dream?" Diana whispered, glancing at Themyscira.

Even though she already knew it, Diana couldn't help but to feel sad at the confirmation. She missed Themyscira _so much_ that it hurt. She missed her mother, her aunt Menalippe, her sisters… She missed her home.

If given the choice, Diana would still have left with Steve, but that didn't mean she cared any less for Themyscira. It just meant she was willing to sacrifice her happiness to ensure Themyscira wouldn't be destroyed by Ares, alongside the rest of the world.

Probably sensing her distress, Bast approached, nuzzling her face delicately, not unlike a cat would do to her cubs; an _immense_ cat goddess, that was true, but apparently a very kind one.

"I am sorry for interrupting your dream, but you will see your home again, young one," Bast said. "I am sure of it."

She nodded, thanking Bast with a small smile. Diana only hoped the goddess was right.

"You mentioned you needed my help," Diana suddenly remembered. "Is it because HYDRA plans to attack Wakanda?"

Bast did not answer immediately. For a long minute, the panther goddess simply looked at Diana, as if measuring her. Then, still in silence, she turned and glanced at the sea, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks.

"Do you know how Wakanda came to be?" Bast asked, still looking at the horizon.

Diana glanced at her and walked to her side. She knew the stories they taught her on Themyscira, but she was quite certain that she would learn something new from someone who was actually a part of Wakanda's history.

"Tell me," Diana asked.

"Thousands of years ago, the Heliopolitans arrived in this world. My people walked upon the sands of a beautiful land, sailed through a long river that crossed it, and everywhere we passed we brought peace, prosperity and knowledge to all those we met. Soon, those lands came to be known as Egypt and it was the birth of one of the greatest civilizations on this planet."

Bast glanced at Diana and the Amazon could almost feel how much she missed it. It was an old home, but it had been her first home on Earth.

"For a long time, we were happy there," Bast continued, sighing. "This world might not have been ours, but it greeted us like we belonged. Humans, even as different and frail as they were, were not so strange to us. We cared for them, taught them, loved them. Egypt became our second home in this big, dark universe of ours."

"What happened, then?" Diana questioned, truly enraptured by the story.

"It became too small," Bast answered, showing Diana her bright teeth again as she smiled. "I can be patient, young one, but I do enjoy the thrill of discovering new places, having new adventures, fighting new enemies. My sister and I, both. So we left the familiar sands of Egypt and went explore. And what we found… What we found, Diana, was incredible."

When Bast said that, the entire island around them, ocean included, glowed with that purple light. Suddenly, everything began to spin, fast, blurring in a mix of purple, blue and black until everything was simply a huge, dark maelstrom, with them in the middle.

And as fast as it began, it stopped. Except that, when it did, they weren't on Themyscira anymore. They were in Wakanda, under the bright daylight.

Bast was right, Diana admitted, as she walked closer to the edge of the high peak they were upon: it was incredible. Wakanda was simply breathtaking. Tall mountains, encircled by a thick mist and shaped by the wind for millennia, surrounded the entire land. Deep valleys pierced the mountain walls, with bright blue rivers flowing through them, the water providing sustenance to the plants and animals around it. Wide plains covered the land, like a green carpet, until a dense forest appeared. And behind it, as if all rivers came together into a single place, there was a tall waterfall, so extensive that the mountains all around it seemed to be covered in water.

It was easy to see how Bast and Sekhmet became so impressed.

"Wakanda was a jewel in this world," Bast finally said, still gazing upon the untamed lands. "Beautiful. Fierce. And most importantly, unique." She looked at Diana, her blue eyes glowing. "For the lands we eventually called Wakanda also had a piece of our homeland. And that, young one, changed everything."

Diana could only watch as Bast changed the dream once again, showing her a representation of what happened even before the Heliopolitans had set foot on Earth. There was a loud noise and she looked up, seeing something crossing the skies; something _huge_ , that was dropping fast, so fast that flames were covering it.

And when the meteorite landed, the entire land was affected.

She could see the purple light that surrounded everything seeping into the land, spreading, as if whatever that meteorite was made of was scattering all over. It was becoming a part of the land, from the ground to the plants, to the plants to the animals, until everything was taken by it.

"Vibranium," Bast explained. "The metal we used to built almost everything we have on Heliopolis. The backbone of our society. If that was not a sign that those lands were special, then I do not know what else would be."

Vibranium… The same metal Steve's shield was made of. Diana did not know that the Heliopolitans also used it, but it was undoubtful that vibranium had almost divine abilities, she considered it. Steve's shield had not been made by a god, did not possess any enchantment or was imbued with any kind of magic; and yet, it was more than good enough to stand by the side of any equipment the Amazons could build.

It was difficult to comprehend how powerful the Heliopolitans must be if they possessed vibranium in such quantity. Or Wakanda, for that matter, if what Bast said was true.

"Is there a lot of vibranium in Wakanda?" Diana asked, remembering how dismissive Howard was of the place every time they talked.

"The whole land is saturated with it," Bast said. "It changed even the lifeforms on it, making them stronger, healthier, eventually giving birth to species of animals and plants that do not exist anywhere else. The vibranium forever altered those lands, even before humans ever settled on it. And by the time we arrived, there were five tribes living on it."

The Five Tribes that created Wakanda, Diana realized, watching as the warriors Bast created inside her dream battled each other, carrying spears, shields and swords.

"When Sekhmet and I arrived, there was no Wakanda," Bast went on. "The Five Tribes were not united, they were enemies, and the beautiful land I showed you was nothing more than a battlefield where blood was spilled over senseless fights. But my sister and I did not see this as an unchangeable horror, but as an opportunity. We saw potential for something greater. So we acted upon it."

Diana watched as the warriors fighting in front of her disappeared in a cloud of dust, except for one single man. And from the same cloud of dust, a huge panther took form, right in front of him.

"For a long while, both of us simply watched and learned, until we could find someone worthy of leading the Five Tribes. Someone wise and powerful enough to unite all of them," Bast announced. "And we did, when I finally chose my champion, I entered his dreams and showed him where to find my gift: the Heart-Shaped Herb."

A weird flower appeared in front of the warrior shaman and he, guided by the panther goddess, ate it, as Diana watched wide eyed. That flower was what Howard tried to find when he first went to Wakanda, she remembered. What he and Erskine tried to use to make Steve's Super-Soldier Serum. She would love to see the look on his face when she told him Bast was the one responsible for it.

"I was the one who created that herb," Bast mentioned, watching as her chosen champion ate the plant, "blessing the land covered with vibranium with my own power. And as I willed it, the Heart-Shaped Herb gave my champion the strength, the speed and the instincts so he could finally become the leader I knew he could be. He became the first King of Wakanda. And the first Black Panther."

Again, the whole place was surrounded by a purple light, and suddenly the warrior shaman was surrounded by all the tribes, wearing a black armor that resembled the form of a panther.

"Sekhmet, in turn, visited their dreams and taught them how to use vibranium, sharing some of our knowledge, mentoring the warriors of Wakanda so they could keep their land safe." Diana watched as the Wakandan people in her dream began to forge weapons and armors made of vibranium, build houses and eventually a huge city. "Four tribes chose to follow the King, while one, the Jabari, chose to live in the mountains and worship another god. Thus, Wakanda was created."

And the Wakanda from Bast's time really was a sight to see. It was the perfect balance between nature and civilization, as an immense city grew in the middle of the mountains, surrounded by forests, long rivers and the ever present mist circling everything. Bast seemed to lose herself in those memories for a moment, as she shaped the Astral Dimension with her own past.

Then, she closed her bright blue eyes and sighed, apparently tired.

"It was the culmination of our dream, a kingdom created by my sister and I," she said. "But like all dreams, ours too eventually came to an end."

That surprised Diana. Wasn't Wakanda still alive and strong, even after all these years?

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

For a while, Bast said nothing, still gazing at the ancient Wakanda. Then she looked at Diana.

"This world was not safe back then, as your mother no doubt taught you," she answered. "Gods from foreign realms roamed the lands, monsters plagued humanity, entire civilizations began to appear and to expand, bringing war everywhere. My sister and I did what we could to protect Wakanda, we taught them to defend themselves, we gave them the means to guard their home. But eventually Sekhmet and I came to disagree about what should be done for the good of Wakanda."

The huge panther walked to the edge of the mountain, looking down at her old kingdom.

"I believed that Wakanda should grow strong enough to protect their lands and their ways, powerful enough to defend their people," Bast told her. "Sekhmet, however, believed Wakanda should grow even stronger. Not only to defend themselves from outside threats, but to conquer the realms around it, to expand and eventually spread their influence all over the world. My sister knew it was a matter of time before outsiders found out about Wakanda, about all the marvels our land possessed. And while I wanted them to protect Wakanda, to shield it, to create a veil of secrecy around it so the people could be safe, to live without having to fight an endless war, Sekhmet wanted the opposite. To attack first, defeat any and all threats and only then, when Wakanda ruled the world, they could live in peace."

"Great Hera… This is madness!" Diana exclaimed, eyes wide.

The Panther Goddess nodded, tiredly.

"Yes, it is," Bast agreed. "But not because Wakanda was not capable of it. It was madness because if we helped them, with all the vibranium, the advanced technology and the Heart-Shaped Herb, Wakanda was very much capable of conquering the entire world."

Diana could actually picture the image Bast was describing. An entire kingdom led by a super-soldier – with the capability of producing a small army of super-soldiers by using the Heart-Shaped Herb –, bearing weapons and armors made of vibranium, with advanced technology they learned to make from a goddess and both "Eyes of Ra" as the vanguard of their army. It would be a force few lands could defend themselves from.

"It was foolishness," Bast said, snapping Diana out of her musings. "Stupidity in its highest form. My sister was a warrior, one of the best I ever met, but sometimes it seemed she could only see things through the eyes of one. War was her solution to everything. I told her it would not work, I told her that even if we won, our reward would be the blood of countless innocent people. _If_! Wakanda was powerful, we were powerful, but there were other gods in this world, other lands with powerful armies. If we started a war that big, there was no telling what would happen. Or which entities would be watching, waiting for a moment of weakness. If we lost, Wakanda would be destroyed. If we won… The blood of an entire world would be on our hands. I could not allow that."

Bast closed her eyes for a moment, lowering her head as if the weight of the past was too much to bear. Then she opened them.

"I had to stop her," she announced. "My own sister, the person I loved more than any other… And I had to stop her."

"You killed her?" Diana asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"No. But it was a close thing."

Then Diana finally saw what Bast meant. For the first time, she was watching with her own eyes what happened when two gods fought; she had no good words to describe how impressive – and scary – that was. With Wakanda as a battlefield, the two sisters clashed against each other, Bast in the form of a huge black panther and Sekhmet in the form of some immense feline, her orange fur enveloped in a blazing fire that consumed everything in her path. Diana squinted her eyes, trying to identify clearly Sekhmet's form behind all those flames. A lioness? No, that wasn't it.

Sekhmet was a Cheetah.

Mountains fell when the two goddesses clashed against them, the rocks turning into dust. Rivers were split and evaporated when Sekhmet touched the water, their claws slashing everything, from trees to the very towers of Wakanda. The noise by itself was terrifying, as they roared and screamed, clouds of dust banished from around them as they moved, so fast that Diana could hardly keep up.

And then they were not a black panther and an orange cheetah anymore, but a middle term between their animal forms and women. Bast was tall, way taller than even Steve, with huge clawed hands, sharp white fangs, pointed ears, long black hair and a tail; her skin was dark, pitch black as her panther fur was. Sekhmet was just as tall, with orange skin full of round black patches, long red hair and also a tail; her hands possessed claws just as big as Bast's, but like her fur, her claws were covered with flames as she roared, her fangs also sharp.

Their smaller forms did nothing to contain their power, as they moved like blurs over Wakanda, attacking each other.

"We battled for days," Bast said, after a while, "but eventually I managed to overpower my sister. Or, should I say, outsmart her. I injured her and took the opportunity to banish her back to Heliopolis, far away from this world." She stopped talking for a moment, watching her memories as she slashed Sekhmet's throat, the golden blood flying away, using the chance to open a portal and throw her sister in it, closing it right after. "I rested, healed, then I showed to the Black Panther what happened. He understood. And from that moment, Wakanda closed itself to the outside world, to protect themselves as well as the rest of the planet."

"So that's why Wakanda is shrouded in secrecy," Diana breathed. "That's why they don't open their borders to anyone."

Bast nodded. "It became Wakanda's one rule: to protect the secret. It was the only way to keep everyone safe."

Diana understood, just as she understood when Hippolyta explained why Themyscira was closed to the outside world. It did not mean she agreed with it. The same way she believed the Amazons should have left alongside her to help Man's World, she also believed Wakanda could be a part of both worlds, keeping their traditions and power but also helping those who needed help.

Hippolyta disagreed. So did Bast. To them, opening their borders would bring only disaster. Diana had no idea if they were right, but right now it did not really matter. HYDRA had attacked Themyscira and forced her to leave her home. And now it was preparing to attack Wakanda as well.

"You told me you needed my help. Are you afraid Wakanda can't defend itself against HYDRA?" Diana asked, looking at Bast. "Or are you afraid of what will happen if HYDRA force Wakanda to enter the war?"

The huge panther glanced at her. "I fear what Ares is planning to do: bring Sekhmet back into this world."

Diana's eyes widened when Bast said that. Sekhmet coming back was not even a possibility she had considered.

"Do you know why I am here, Diana? In your dreams? It is because, like you, I am also asleep," Bast explained. "Unlike the Olympians, who share the blood of the Titan of Time, we Heliopolitans slumber from time to time. Like the Allfather of Asgard and his Odinsleep, we hibernate to built up our strength, to be able to live for millennia without aging. Sometimes to heal wounds."

"Sekhmet?" Diana asked, remembering how much blood she seemed to lose when Bast slashed her throat.

"Yes. My sister had to Sleep as soon as she was thrown back in Heliopolis and she has been sleeping ever since." She stopped talking for a moment. "It was the only thing she could do to stop herself from dying."

Without really knowing what to do, Diana touched Bast's side. The panther goddess said nothing, but she didn't object.

"Differently from me, Sekhmet did not enter her Sleep willingly," Bast continued. "I can interact with other gods and even mortals through the Astral Dimension whenever I want. I can watch over Wakanda and Egypt and I could even gaze Ares' plan through it, when his need for war grew so big that it touched the Astral Dimension, shaping it as his subconscious wished. Sekhmet cannot. Our battle was fought thousands of years ago, but in her mind, my claws just slashed her throat." Bast looked at Diana. "Ares plans to summon Sekhmet to Wakanda, force her to wake up and unleash her fury. She will be confused, in pain, enraged… And the first thing she will see upon opening her eyes will be Wakanda being attacked. Sekhmet will retaliate."

"What do you think she'll do?" Diana asked, dreading the answer.

"What she wanted to do all those years ago: lead Wakanda into a war to conquer the world," Bast answered, serious. "That, by itself, would be a disaster. But things will be even worse this time."

"Why?" Diana asked, imagining what would be worse than another superpower entering the World War.

"Diana, Ares is the God of War. He feeds on conflict. It matters little if a war is being fought against him or someone else, he will grow powerful either way. This World War humans are fighting is a feast to him, a source of energy. What do you think it will happen if Sekhmet comes back, ready to lead Wakanda into it?"

"The war will become much worse," Diana whispered.

"No, young one, you still have not understood the gravity of the situation," Bast retorted. "If Sekhmet manages to enter your world, I will have to force myself awake and follow her. We will face each other, again, and a battle between two Daughters of Ra will make Ares so much more powerful that he would be able to challenge and defeat entire pantheons from other realms, just as he defeated the Olympians. Soon you will not have a World War on Earth, you will have a war between gods that will shatter this planet in pieces and burn the cosmos."

Diana simply did not know what to say. She knew Ares wasn't planning anything good when he decided to attack Wakanda, but this? Not even her scariest nightmares had prepared her for something like what Bast described. This wouldn't be the end of Man's World, it would be the end of everything.

Eyes wide, Diana looked at Bast.

"How do I stop him?"

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 8** **th** **, 2010**

"Okay, let's do this right," Tony announced to his robot assistants as he walked backwards on the marked floor of his lab, his new flight repulsor boots thumping heavily at each step.

It took him days of nearly constant work, but his armor was slowly beginning to take form. Piece by piece, as if he was putting together a huge puzzle, Tony began to craft the Mark II, the improved version of the prototype he and Yinsen built in Afghanistan.

And without bragging, Tony could honestly say that the suit was becoming more awesome at each day.

"Start mark, half a meter, and back and center," he said to Jarvis, running the numbers inside his mind, as he stopped.

The arc reactor was glowing bright in his chest, powering his repulsors, and he was holding two triggers, one in each hand, ready to begin his very first flight test. He breathed deeply and stood up straight.

"Dum-E, look alive," Tony said, looking at his robot assistant holding a fire extinguisher he hopefully wouldn't need. "You're on standby for fire safety. 'U'," he pointed at his other robot, holding a camera, "roll it."

Tony breathed deep once again, preparing himself, trying to contain his excitation.

"Okay, activate hand controls," he ordered, getting in position, wiggling his legs without moving the uncomfortable boots. "We're gonna start off nice and easy. We're gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift. And three, two, one…"

The moment he pressed the hand controls, the repulsors launched him up like a rocket to the moon. He flipped midair, legs up, to finally crash against the lower ceiling behind him, smashing his face directly on the concrete and dropping like a rock.

Dum-E, of course, used the fire extinguisher on him, covering his bruised body with a white cloud, because why the hell not?

Tony clearly would need to run the numbers again, he thought, groaning as he got up.

* * *

 **Wakandan Exhibition, Smithsonian, Washington DC – April 8** **th** **, 2010**

It was the first night of the Wakandan exhibition hosted by the Smithsonian and everything looked beyond fancy. People were dressed as if they were attending a gala, there were waiters and waitresses running around serving champagne and canapés and even orchestral music playing. The guests were clearly rich, as the high-quality clothes and jewelry indicated, and all of them were fascinated by the works of art displayed all around them.

Clint Barton didn't quite know what he was doing there. Not simply there, in that fancy gala-like exhibition, but inside a museum. He had never stepped in one before and he couldn't say that was something he dearly wanted to change. Well, not stepped in one willingly at least; there was that one time he was forced to hunt a weapon's dealer inside a museum in São Paulo. But it wasn't as if he had the time to actually look at any art displayed while he chased the man.

No, the reason Clint was walking through the corridors of the Smithsonian had less to do with any interest he had in art and more to do with the breathtakingly woman that had her arm wrapped around his; but not for the reason most would think.

Natasha Romanoff was, needless to say, gorgeous, but Clint was a married man and he loved his wife very much. The thought of doing anything to sabotage that relationship never crossed his mind and he was certain that it hadn't crossed Natasha's mind as well; she liked his wife and children almost as much as he did. So no, the reason he was accompanying her wasn't to try to sleep with her, as almost all the men who crossed their path seemed to think, if their approving expressions and the impressed nods in his direction were any indication.

Clint was there because Natasha wanted him to meet her friend, Diana Prince. The one responsible for the very exhibition they were appreciating at the moment.

He, of course, knew who Diana Prince was. Natasha was a friend and he looked out for her in any way he could; running background checks on close acquaintances was pretty much expected in their line of business. But Natasha had never introduced them before.

How Natasha was friends with a civilian who worked in a museum Clint didn't know. It didn't make sense. What did they talk about? What did they have in common? Natasha was a super-spy, a SHIELD agent, an ex-assassin. He could hardly imagine how their conversations went when Natasha couldn't mention her job and Diana had nothing even remotely similar to what they did in her life.

Then again, Laura barely had anything in common with him either and they loved each other. Sometimes people just fit together, he supposed.

Clint widened his eyes when that thought crossed his mind. Could those two be–

"Stop fidgeting with your tie, Clint," Natasha whispered in his ear, as her magnificent blue dress waved at each step. "You look great."

"Well, of course I look great, but this is very uncomfortable," Clint retorted without missing a beat. "There is a reason I never tried to work in an office."

"James Bond never complained," Natasha pointed out, as they continued walking. "Can you imagine Daniel Craig whining?"

"James Bond is British, I can't compete with that kind of elegance. And for the record, I think you mean Pierce Brosnan, not Daniel Craig," Clint quipped back. "And, you know, there is the small fact that James Bond is not real."

"As far as we know," Natasha remembered. "And no, I mean Daniel Craig."

"As far as we know," Clint agreed. "And you are crazy, Pierce Brosnan was much better." Clint objected. "But even if James Bond is real, I would like to see him using a bow and arrow while wearing a suit."

"I bet he would look just as elegant," Natasha countered. "Daniel Craig would, at least."

"If you mean Pierce Brosnan, then yeah, you're probably right," Clint admitted. "Anyway, where is your friend?"

There was a small smile on Natasha's lips.

"Right behind you," said a woman's voice he didn't recognize.

Clint turned around immediately, by pure reflex, his honed instincts reacting to the fact that someone had approached him close enough for him to feel her breath tickling the back of his head unnoticed. He very nearly drew his gun, but thankfully he managed to control that reaction in time.

Natasha, however, was completely relaxed; for some reason she seemed to find his reaction extremely amusing.

Sparing her an annoyed look, Clint turned to greet Diana Prince, the unlikely friend his partner managed to make. And for the second time in a few seconds, Clint was shocked. He had seen pictures of Diana and he had even seen her from afar once or twice, but nothing had prepared him for how incredibly _stunning_ she was – and this was coming from a man who worked alongside Natasha Romanoff every day. He didn't even know people could be that beautiful before seeing her.

Bright blue eyes, long dark hair, red lips… A face that wouldn't be out of place on an angel and a body that was beauty personified clad in an expensive silver dress.

Snapping his mouth shut, aware that his seconds of stunned silence did not go unnoticed, Clint ignored his own embarrassment – and Natasha rolling her eyes – and extended his hand.

"Clint Barton. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Prince," he said, as she shook his hand.

"Please, call me Diana, Mr. Barton," Diana answered, polite enough to overlook his lapse without saying anything. "It's a pleasure to meet you too."

"It's Clint," he said, returning the kindness.

She just smiled and nodded; then she looked at Natasha and Clint saw her face brightening with pure happiness. Stepping forward, Diana hugged Natasha without hesitation, kissing both her cheeks. And Natasha, to his surprise, seemed just as happy as Diana was, if a little more contained.

"I'm so glad you could come!" Diana exclaimed. "I thought you were on a mission."

"I lied," Natasha informed her, completely unashamed. "I wanted to surprise you. I know how much Wakanda means to you."

Diana touched Natasha's face again, cupping her cheeks for a moment, staring deeply into her eyes. Clint could only watch, amazed, seeing a side of Natasha that he had never seen before. He was wrong, there was nothing even remotely romantic about that gesture. And yet there was love, _so much_ love that he could almost see it.

The question about how they met and became friends popped into his head again, because what he was seeing there was not the run-of-the-mill friendship.

"I heard Wakanda is not exactly fond of outsiders," Clint mentioned, starting to feel a little bit left out. "How did you manage to visit them and even get presents?"

Diana released Natasha's cheeks and smiled. "It was a special occasion."

"Give us a tour, then," Natasha asked, wrapping her arm around Diana's.

Miss Prince was happy to oblige.

Clint wasn't exactly an appreciator of art, of any kind. He could tell if a panting was beautiful or not, admire a well sculpted statue and even generally like the drawings on a tapestry or on a bunch of jars, but that was it. It could be pretty and all that, but it didn't really mean anything to him. And yet, when Diana led them through the Wakandan works of art, explaining their history, highlighting the important details on each of them, explaining how and by whom they were made, Clint realized he _was_ interested.

"This one here is my personal favorite," Diana announced, pointing at a black wooden mask in the form of a panther. "The Mask of Bast, the Panther Goddess that created Wakanda."

"An old friend?" Natasha questioned, smiling.

Clint didn't exactly understand the question, but by Diana's grin, she did.

"You could say that," Diana answered, then she looked at Clint with a smile. "But since you two were kind enough to come all the way here just to see my exhibition, I may have something you'll probably appreciate more than a mask, Clint. Follow me, you two."

Curious, they did as she asked, following her as she led them through the guests, stopping once or twice to greet someone, always happy and polite, but not nearly as she was when she greeted them. Clint saw rich socialites, some very successful business men, even a couple of politicians, all of them stopping whatever they were doing to turn and watch as Diana and Natasha passed through, arms still joined.

He could understand the feeling, even being happily married. Those two were more than beautiful and they were dressed to impress. Still, he was amused to notice that no one dared to approach them; it seemed humanity's instinct to sense danger still worked, even if evolution had dulled it a bit. Natasha was like a bright flame, easy on the eyes, but a risk to approach. She would never allow those people to get close if she didn't want to and apparently she was very protective of her friend.

"And here we are," Diana announced, as they finally got in front of a display case. "Nat mentioned you are an archer, Clint. I thought you would like this."

Now, that was interesting. Inside the glass display case, well illuminated and resting atop a small cushion, was a composite bow made of wood and some kind of horn. It was broken in half and missing its string, but Clint could easily imagine how it would look if it weren't and it would be a beauty. If it weren't broken, it would be as long as his chest, extremely curved, and full of weird inscriptions all over its black extension.

Diana was right, this was a work of art he could appreciate.

"It is said, that the first bows made in Wakanda were made of cow's horns," Diana explained, making Clint look at her, "not because they were the best material they had, but as a prank that Bast played on her sister, Sekhmet. You see, Sekhmet had a famous temper, the kind that could send her on a rampage for the smallest things. One day, when they were still in Egypt, she got so angry that she almost wiped out an entire city. So to calm her down, Ra turned her into a cow. Bast found the whole thing so funny, that she cut off one of her horns and made a bow out of it, so that she could laugh about this for all eternity. And that was the bow she showed the Wakandans how to build, as practical joke, so she could tease her sister."

"And that didn't send Sekhmet on a furious rampage?" Nat asked, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.

"It almost did, but when the Wakandans heard of this story, they chose to offer the bow as a gift to Sekhmet, to appease her anger. They built one from cow's horn and vibranium, symbolizing both fury and calm, a weapon that could be used to attack other nations, but also to protect their lands. Just as Sekhmet herself."

"Wait a minute, you are talking about Wakanda or Egypt?" Clint interrupted, confused.

"Bast and Sekhmet were goddesses from both lands," Diana answered. "They helped to build Egypt and then they went away to create Wakanda, or so the legends tell us. Like in Greek and Roman mythology. Different lands, same gods, even though they were known by different names. Zeus and Jupiter, Poseidon and Neptune, Hades and Pluto…"

"Got it. I like Greek mythology," Clint mentioned.

Diana smiled, fondly. "It is my favorite too."

"Half the problems happen because Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants," Clint continued, his attention already back on the bow.

Natasha choked on her champagne for some reason and Diana's smiled vanished.

"Yes, well, moving on…" Diana deadpanned. "The Wakandans didn't use the bow and arrow for the entirety of their history, but there was a time that the Border Tribe was said to wield bows made entirely of vibranium, with arrows forged with the same metal. Can you imagine it? An arrow that could be fired so powerfully, made of such durable material, that it could pierce through shields, armors and people and simply keep going. The stories tell that it was a fearsome weapon that kept Wakanda's borders safe for hundreds of years."

Clint raised his eyebrows at the thought. It was probably nonsense, since it was very doubtful a poor country such as Wakanda even had enough vibranium to just shoot it at other people, but it was an impressive story.

"I would like to see that," he said, honestly. If it was a real thing, that is.

"I would be much more interested in the rhinos," Natasha mentioned. "Diana told me they had a whole division of war rhinos, that just charged at people with their horns coated in vibranium."

"Okay, that is hogwash," Clint said, giving his opinion.

"And the bow made of the horn of a goddess turned into a cow, isn't?" Natasha asked, raising a single eyebrow.

" _That_ is mythology, it's supposed to be weird. I mean, there is even a story where Zeus turns into a goose and seduces a wom–"

"First, it was a swan," Diana interrupted, pushing a glass of champagne in Clint's hands, "and second, enough about Zeus. And mythology. Let's talk about you two. How did you meet? Nat mentioned you work together and that you are a terrific archer, but not much else."

The "much else" worried Clint a little bit, since he didn't know exactly what he was supposed to say. Glancing at his redhead friend, Clint tried to imagine how open Natasha was with what she did. He knew she wouldn't share classified information, obviously, but that also didn't mean she was honest about everything else. Civilians tended to get uncomfortable when they talked about some of the things their work involved, after all.

Before he could say anything, however, Natasha replied: "He was the only person willing to become friends with me when I started working for SHIELD. So it's not like I had much choice in the matter."

Clint rolled his eyes at Natasha's playful grin. From a certain point of view, everything she said was true, albeit an abridged version of it. SHIELD's agents really wanted nothing to do with Natasha when she started working for them, knowing very well the things she used to do in her childhood. Many were afraid of trying to get close to an assassin raised in the Red Room, even when Peggy Carter herself was the one responsible for rehabilitating her and was willing to vouch for her.

He wasn't different. Clint was also uncertain about Natasha when she started working for SHIELD, but he was willing to give her a chance. Truth be told, if things had been a little different in his life, if some people hadn't given him the benefit of the doubt, he might as well have followed a similar tragic path.

And he never regretted, not once, befriending Natasha. She proved herself to him and quickly became his best friend, someone to whom Clint even shared the most important thing in his life: his family.

"Well, Nat's not lying, I really was the only person willing to become friends with her," Clint said. "So it was mostly pity and one thing led to another and here we are."

Diana chuckled at his small joke, but she was the only one; Natasha's elbow stealthily crashing against his ribs made sure of that.

"And what about you two?" Clint asked, as soon as he was capable of talking again. "I heard Peggy Carter was the one who introduced you? How did that happen?"

There were a few seconds of silence – a weird silence, that made Clint think if he had asked something he shouldn't –, then Diana started talking.

"Well, I met Peggy in the Captain America's exhibition here, in the Smithsonian," she said, not looking at him as she grabbed a few canapés. "We clicked and she came back to visit me a few times. Eventually, Peggy introduced me to Natasha because both of us needed friends and, to use the same word again, we clicked."

Okay, that had to be the worst storytelling Clint had ever heard. It didn't answer anything and it gave him no clues about how their relationship worked. They "clicked" meant absolutely nothing to him and he was beginning to suspect that was the whole point, if Natasha's carefully impassive expression meant anything; he knew her well enough to notice when she had found something funny and was trying not to show it.

"Okay, you clicked–" Clint repeated.

"Yes, we clicked," Diana answered, smiling tightly.

"We all clicked," Natasha added, still incredibly amused. "There was a lot of clicking."

"–But how?" Clint continued, ignoring them. "I mean, what did you… click about?" he finished, a bit disgusted with himself.

They looked at each other for a second, then back at him; then they just shrugged.

"I guess I just like old things," Natasha said, obviously referring to Diana's line of work, because otherwise Diana would be justified to slap her; and, of course, it would make no sense, since Diana was young.

"And I like… spies?" Diana concluded, almost as if it were a question, after sparing Natasha a dirty look for the 'old things' commentary, he supposed. "James Bond is awesome. Sean Connery really showed the world how a true spy should be."

"I think you mean Pierce Brosnan–" Clint corrected her.

"Daniel Craig," Natasha pointed out.

"–And he is not a spy, he is a secret agent," Clint continued, completely ignoring Natasha.

"Are those two different?" Diana asked.

"Someone who truly loves James Bond would know," Clint accused. "So I ask again, what did you two 'click' about?"

Again, both of them simply looked at each other, not saying anything. Clint frowned. By the earlier display he watched of their friendship, he saw nothing even remotely romantic, but the way they were avoiding saying anything was really beginning to make him reconsider.

"Are you two… You know," Clint said, lowering his voice, suddenly embarrassed when they turned to him.

"Are we what?" Diana asked, truly curious.

"You know," he repeated. He looked at both his sides, then whispered: "Dating?"

The expression of pure and complete disgust on their faces shattered that theory immediately.

"No, what is wrong with you?!" Natasha exclaimed, losing her cool for a moment.

Diana looked just as incensed, her eyes almost burning him down.

"I'm sorry, I-I just, I mean… I'm sorry!" Clint apologized quickly. "I just wanted to know how you two ended up friends."

"And you just immediately assumed we are sleeping together?!" Diana retorted, shaking her head. "Men really are pigs."

"Yes, they are," Natasha agreed, grabbing Diana and pulling her away, giving Clint a last affronted look.

Good one, Clint thought, one hell of a first impression. He could only imagine how was he supposed to fix this as both of them left him alone with his glass of champagne and a hand full of canapés.

* * *

"I like him," Diana mentioned, smiling at Natalia, when they were a few feet away from Clint. "He seems a good friend."

"He is," Natalia agreed; then she frowned. "A bit of an idiot, sometimes, but I suppose that's a male affliction."

Diana chuckled. "My mother used to say the same thing. I actually did not believe some of the stories she told me about the heroes of old, not until I came to Man's World and was able to see it for myself."

"Poor things… That's why he needs me," Nat said, fondly.

It made Diana really happy to know Natalia was capable of making friends, even with a past as troubled as she had. Clint, against all odds, appeared to be a true friend and one deserving of standing by the side of her adopted daughter.

"Anyway, before I go get Clint back, I wanted to ask you something," Nat said, interrupting her musings. "Have you and Peggy, by any chance, been playing with the stock market?"

Diana's expression was impassive. "Why do you ask?"

"I ask because, despite all the carefully thought analysis our specialists did about Stark's announcement that he wouldn't build weapons anymore," Nat said, her voice low, "that resulted in the inevitable conclusion that the board of directors wouldn't support this decision, the board seems inclined in simply accepting Stark's decision." She looked at Diana. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Of course not," Diana denied immediately, face still impassive. "But why is SHIELD involved in this, anyway?"

"SHIELD and everybody else," Natalia corrected. "Either I like Stark or not, he is a genius and Stark Industries is one of the biggest weapon's suppliers of the US Army. This, in turn, makes the US Army powerful and a big player in the world's military balance. Stark Industries suddenly stopping to build weapons might change that in a way we cannot predict. SHIELD doesn't like surprises."

"That's terrible, all that wasted time and effort!" Diana exclaimed, quite convincingly in her opinion. "But are you sure they are accepting Tony's announcement about not making weapons anymore?"

Natalia rolled her eyes. "It seems so. Peggy must have applied quite a lot of pressure on them, to make them side against SHIELD and the US Army."

"I wouldn't know," Diana shrugged. She really wouldn't, Peggy had handled that by herself.

"By the way, where is Peggy?" Nat asked, curious. "Is she not coming?"

Diana waited a few seconds to answer, putting her glass down with a tired sigh.

"She switched her meds this week and they did not agree with her too well. She'll come another day."

Natalia no doubt saw through her, sensing her anxiety, and was about to say something else, but Diana didn't want to think about it right now; there would be other days to worry. So Diana smiled.

"Now let's grab your friend, because I'm sure he is still sulking somewhere. We will have a good time, at least."

* * *

 **Outside Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 10** **th** **, 2010**

Obadiah Stane was fuming. Everything was falling apart in such a catastrophic way that he was having trouble maintaining his expression impassive as his driver arrived at Tony's house. It was only through years of experience that Stane was able to keep himself from simply exploding during the board of directors meeting.

Acquiring Stark Industries should've been easy, he planned – _extensively_ – for this. After Howard's death, the burden of leading the company fell to him and he had risen to the challenge; until Tony came back to take it away from him. And just like that, it was out of his grasp once again.

It wasn't all bad, he admitted. Tony, for all his faults, _was_ a genius when it came to building weapons. That hard head of his had brought a lot money to the company, and to his own pockets. But at the end of the day, Stane wasn't satisfied with just money. He wanted power. He wanted prestige. He wanted Stark's throne.

And why shouldn't he have it? Tony wasn't the one who dealt with all the crap involved in directing the company. He was, at best, an employee, who showed up when he wanted and brought with him an infinite amount of problems. Except he was an employee that happened to own most of the company's shares.

So when he considered that the goose had laid its last golden egg, Stane decided to take the company for good. That was when things started to go wrong.

He should've known that dealing with terrorists wouldn't work well. Sure, he was used to sell them weapons, but obviously trusting them with a task was too much. Instead of killing Tony Stark – which would be a tragedy for the world and all that – they chose to kidnap him and extort extra money from him.

It was clear that they would end up killing him, of course, but each moment Tony Stark remained alive raised the chances of things going wrong. And they did go wrong in such a way that Stane still couldn't believe it.

Stark escaped. He singlehanded escaped the terrorists, god only knew how, and managed to find his way back home. And to add insult to injury, on his very first press conference, Tony Stark decided to announce to the entire world that Stark Industries would no longer make weapons.

Stane could've strangled him with his bare hands during that press conference. In fact, he was very close of doing something extreme when they left, but there was simply no way that he would be able to try to kill him and escape all scrutiny a second time, especially after that whole ordeal.

So he bid his time. Tony had lost the company a fortune with his announcement, but at least that was something he could use to push him away from Stark Industries control. Things weren't so bad, Stane thought back then. He would just need to wait a little more patiently, while he maneuvered Tony away from the company for good, and then he would deal with him without raising suspicion when the time was right.

Of course he didn't count on failing to stop this new company direction.

How that happened, Stane didn't know. He was certain that the board would never go through with this, if not for the fact that they would lose money, then for the fact that they would go against him, the US Army and a lot of powerful people. And yet, they did and that caught him by surprise in a way he was never caught before.

And now he had a problem. A big one. Stane couldn't stop Stark Industries from going through with this, not while Stark was alive. And he couldn't kill Tony, not without drawing attention to himself. So for the moment, he had no choice but to go with the flow.

Stane sighed, grabbing the pizza when the car stopped and opening the door. At the very least, the arc reactor could prove itself to be very profitable. That was a small comfort, but it was a comfort nonetheless.

He started to walk towards Tony's house, the hot wind of the night blowing strong; the smile he forced on his face had never felt so heavy before.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 10** **th** **, 2010**

Tony closed the unfinished gauntlet of his suit around his right arm, using his screwdriver to strap it well, so concentrated in his task that he almost didn't notice Pepper entering his lab, carrying a small box and a coffee mug on top of it.

"I've been buzzing you," Pepper said, going to him. "Didn't you hear the intercom?"

"Yeah, everything is grea–what?" Tony said, not really listening to her.

"Obadiah is upstairs," Pepper simply informed, already used to see him distracted with a new project, putting the box and the mug on his table. "What do you want me to tell him?"

"Great, I'll be right up," Tony answered, not taking his eyes from his task. Finally finishing the final adjustments, he raised his suited arm, the repulsor on his hand glowing almost as much as his arc reactor. He pointed it forward. "Okay."

"I thought you said you were done making weapons?" Pepper asked, watching him with interest.

"This is a flight stabilizer," Tony explained, preparing himself for the testing. "It's completely harmless."

He pressed the button to turn it on. They could hear the energy building up and then the repulsor fired, the recoil tossing him back like a cannon, the noise so loud in the lab that Pepper jumped back trying to block her ears.

She turned to him, furious and scared.

"I didn't expect that," Tony apologized fast, groaning.

* * *

Someone was playing the piano when he went upstairs – Obie, most likely – and for a moment Tony slowed down, having a flash of memory of his own mother playing, all those years back. Shaking his head, he ignored the pang of anger at the intrusion – also ignoring the pang of sadness –, and walked to Obie.

"How'd it go?" he asked, assessing the mood in the room.

Obie glanced at him from the piano, a glass of scotch by his side. Pepper was working on the couch, typing on her notebook. There was a box of pizza on the table; that was not a good sign.

"Wow… It went that bad, huh?" Tony asked.

"Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad," Obie said, still not looking at him as he continued to play. "This is, in fact, a celebration pizza."

"That's a new concept," Tony remarked, suspicious, sitting down and grabbing a slice.

"Well, you'd have known I'm not lying if you were there," Obie replied, getting up.

"You told me to lay low," Tony argued, his mouth full, "that's what I've been doing. I lay low and you take care of all the–"

"Hey, come on, in public! The press. This was a board of directors meeting."

"This was a board of directors meeting?" Tony repeated, slightly shocked. Well, he probably should've been there, then.

"Yes, Tony, it was a board of directors meeting," Obie confirmed, sitting by his side. "But don't worry, it went okay. Better than okay, really." He grabbed Tony's shoulder, looking at him with a smile. "Some of them tried to claim you have Post-Traumatic Stress and tried to file an injunction, but I stood our ground."

"A what?! They tried to lock me out?!" Tony exclaimed. "Just because the stocks dipped 40 points? We knew that was gonna happen."

"Fifty-six and a half," Pepper corrected him, not even bothering to look up from her work. "But it's actually recovering quite well," she added.

"It doesn't matter, we own the controlling interest in the company," Tony claimed. "Who do these people think they are?"

"The important thing here," Obie interrupted, "is that I prevented things from turning ugly. They tried to say that this new direction wasn't in the company's best interest, but I convinced them otherwise."

Tony was far too incensed with people trying to take his own company from him to care about Obie's soft tone or about what he said.

"I'm being responsible!" he said. "That's a new direction for me–for the company. I mean, me on the company's behalf, being responsible for the way that–"

"Tony!" Obie interrupted, again. "I dealt with it. It's done. But, Tony, the board will want results. Soon. Otherwise I don't know what's gonna happen next time. You gotta give me something. Something to pitch them."

Tony knew exactly what Obie wanted, he didn't even need to point at his chest for him to guess.

"Let me have the engineers analyze that," Obie asked, looking at the arc reactor. "You know, draw up some specs."

"No. No, absolutely not," Tony refused. "This one stays with me. You said it yourself, the crisis has been averted."

"This one, but what about the next?" Obie questioned. "What do I tell them the next time they try to push you away?"

"There won't be a next time," Tony answered, grabbing a few slices of pizza and already returning to the lab. "Our responsible way of doing things is going to pay off soon."

Obie sighed, annoyed, but he knew Tony well enough to realize fighting wouldn't take him anywhere.

"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?" he asked.

"You did a great job, Obie, thanks. Good night!"

Tony felt exhilarated as he went down the stairs, back to the lab, his energy completely recharged. Things had worked out with the board and soon Stark Industries would move on from the weapon's business. Things were finally looking up.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 11** **th** **, 2010**

"Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0," Tony announced to the camera. "For lack of a better option, Dum-E is still on fire safety." He turned to the robot. "If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college."

Tony stood in the middle of his lab/garage, on the marked floor for his tests, in front of his car collection, wearing all four repulsors of his suit, on both arms and both legs. This was it, the moment of truth, to see if his armor could, in fact, achieve controlled flight like he intended.

"All right, nice and easy," he said, more to calm himself than anything else; he still hadn't healed properly from the last flight test. "Seriously, just gonna start off 1% thrust capacity. And three, two, one…"

The repulsors ignited simultaneously, glowing suddenly. And then he was floating, a few inches from the ground, struggling so he wouldn't move away. His heart was pounding in his chest as his adrenalin flowed through his body; he almost couldn't believe it.

He turned it off, dropping back to the ground, the heavy boots making the landing uncomfortable. Dum-E followed him with the fire-extinguisher.

"Please don't follow me around with it, either," he complained, "'cause I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down! If something happens, then come in. And again, let's bring it up to 2.5. Three, two, one…"

This time he was ready for the burst up, opening his arms as the repulsors fired, trying to control his flying. The energy boost clearly made a difference, making him fly higher and easier; he was actually keeping himself up without difficulty this time.

What was difficult was controlling the flight.

Not knowing exactly how to handle the repulsors, Tony began to move away from the marked floor, groaning in desperation as he picked up speed right in the direction of his car collection.

"Okay, this is where I don't want to be!" he exclaimed to nobody, wincing as the repulsors hit the first car, damaging its paint. "Not the car, not the car! Yikes!"

He wanted to kick himself when he simply moved forward, passing over every single car, the repulsors burning their paints without exception. With a twist of his body he managed to move away, but not to where he wanted to.

"Table!" Papers began to fly away, some up in flames, as he tried to regain control. He dashed forward, right to the wall, and quickly raised his arms to stop; the move, of course, sent him back and he was whining nonsensically as he flew around. "Could be worse, could be worse, we're fine! Okay!"

And suddenly, without any warning, he got the hang of it. Still stiff, still moving weirdly, but Tony managed to bring himself back to the marked floor and, standing in air for a second, he turned the repulsors off.

There was a second of silence.

"Yeah, I can fly," he boasted.

It was time for a real test now.

* * *

 **Peggy Carter's Apartment, Washington, DC – April 11** **th** **, 2010**

It took Sharon Carter exactly five seconds for her to open the door of her great-aunt's apartment, not giving the chance for the expected visitor to knock for the third time. She couldn't help the big smile that appeared on her face when she saw Diana on the other side of the door.

"It's really good to see you, Sharon," Diana said, hugging her as soon as she was inside.

Sharon didn't even bother to answer, trusting her strong hug to convey how much she liked seeing the Amazon demigoddess. It had been a while since she saw Diana, her training to become a SHIELD agent taking most of her time lately, so it was fair to say she missed her a lot.

Her great-aunt Peggy Carter was her idol, her role model, the person she strived to become, but Diana was a close second. And though not blood related, she considered her part of the family, much like Peggy did; a second aunt, to be precise. Most importantly, the fun one. While Peggy was almost a living legend to her, always there to teach her and give her advice, Diana was the "aunt" who used to play with her when she was a kid.

Of course, back then, she didn't know Diana was even more of a legend than Peggy, straight out of mythology, the slayer of the God of War himself. And by the time they thought she was old enough to know, Diana was already the "fun aunt", rather than a living goddess, and nothing would change that. That was fine with her. Growing up with one legend in the family was enough, two might've given her a complex.

"How is she?" Diana asked, after she finally released her. She was trying not to show, but Sharon could clearly see she was worried.

Looking back, it was obvious that Diana and Peggy had some differences during her childhood, but somewhere along the line they had restored their friendship. Howard Stark's death was probably what brought them back, she supposed, and even though it was a tragic and traumatic event for them, it served the purpose of bringing them back together. She was thankful for that, not only because it allowed her to grow up with both of her aunts, but because now Peggy would have another person to stay with her during her old age.

Her aunt trusted very few people and liked even less; her circle of friends wasn't big, especially now.

"She is better," Sharon finally answered, trying to put Diana's concerns to rest. "It was just the new meds, they messed with her body a bit, but it seems she is used to them now."

"I wanted to come sooner, but–"

"I know, the exhibition, aunt Peggy told me about it," Sharon interrupted. "She didn't even want me to tell you, to be honest. You know how tough she is."

"Tough and stubborn," Diana corrected, sighing. "She knows I would have come in a second if she asked."

"That's why she didn't. Your work is important to you, she knows that."

"Not nearly as important as her."

"That's always good to hear," Peggy said as she entered the living room, no doubt listening to their conversation. "Though 'she' is not going anywhere, not right now at least, so stop worrying."

Diana smiled and went to Peggy, hugging her as well. Her aunt was a strong woman, even at her age, but the recent illness had taken its toll. She was paler, thinner and a lot more tired than usual. It might not have been a serious ailment, but it was a clear reminder that Peggy wasn't the young Agent of SHIELD anymore.

"I can't help but to worry, Peggy, you know that," Diana said.

"I know, Princess, but I'm fine. Really," Peggy guaranteed. "A rather embarrassing few days on the toilet, true, but nothing that some food and a lot of water won't fix. I'm just sorry I missed the opening night of your exhibition."

"Don't worry about that, Nat was there," Diana said. Then she smiled mischievously. "And she introduced me to Clint."

That seemed to amuse her aunt greatly, if her cackling was any indication.

"And what did you think of Mr. Barton?" Peggy asked. "Coulson and Fury like him very much."

"I liked him," Diana admitted. "And so does Natalia, though not as I imagined. They are friends, best friends."

"And who would think little Nat would ever have a best friend, huh?" Peggy wondered, walking to her chair and sitting down. "She was always so attached to you that I doubted she would ever bother to make friends."

It still amazed Sharon that they could speak in such a carefree way about people like Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. She knew Natasha – or Natalia, as Diana called her – from her childhood, since Diana usually took her wherever she went, even to visit her, but they were never friends. Natasha seemed weird to her and she always had the impression the redhead girl thought she was nothing but a hassle.

Sharon only understood why after she started working for SHIELD, when she heard about the Black Widow Program and the Red Room. It was no wonder the redhead girl was bothered when Diana and Peggy sent them to play; when Sharon was still playing with dolls, Natasha was already working as a full-fledged assassin. Safe to say that they didn't have that much in common.

It made sense she made friends with Clint Barton, another full-fledged assassin working for SHIELD, now that Sharon thought about it.

Sharon was happy to listen to them talking, as she prepared some tea for them in the kitchen. Peggy was talking more in those few minutes than she talked in the past few days, no doubt excited about seeing her friend again. It was a good thing that she thought to call Diana. For both of them.

Still, even though she was happy, Sharon was still worried about Peggy. Her aunt was a strong woman, more than capable of taking care of herself, but that sometimes made her too tightlipped about her problems. She didn't know which meds Peggy was taking, what they were for and why did she switch them; Peggy didn't tell her anything and apparently Diana wasn't told either.

Sharon Carter was not an accomplished spy like Peggy, but even she could tell that something was amiss. It was a good thing that Diana was there, not only because it made her aunt happy, but because it would be nice to have someone to talk to about that.

Maybe for the first time in her life, Sharon truly hoped she was wrong.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 11** **th** **, 2010**

Tony stood in place as his suit was assembled on him, the mechanical arms putting all the parts together like a puzzle, piece by piece, until his entire body was covered by the silver armor. Finally, when all the parts were where they should be, he grabbed his mask and finished the job, covering his face.

"Jarvis, you there?" he asked, as the visor inside his mask glowed blue.

"At your service, sir," the AI answered.

"Engage Heads-Up Display," Tony said.

"Check."

"Import all preferences from home interface."

"Will do, sir."

As they spoke, numbers, charts and symbols began popping up on the screen of his visor, recognizing the objects in front of him. His car's models and measurements were taken, the room was scanned, tools were catalogued, the very lab was entirely stripped down to pure information and uploaded to his suit's computer.

"All right, what do you say?" Tony asked.

"I have indeed been uploaded, sir," Jarvis answered. "We are online and ready."

"Can we start the virtual walk-around?

"Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment."

"Do a check on control surfaces," Tony ordered.

"As you wish."

His entire suit began to move by itself, opening the flaps on the legs, arms and back, the pieces dislocating themselves and coming back into place as Jarvis tested them, ensuring everything was working properly. And in a few seconds, everything was back to where it was.

"Test complete," Jarvis announced. "Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."

"Yeah… Tell you what, do a weather and ATC check," Tony said, instead. "Start listening in on ground control."

Understanding what Tony meant immediately, Jarvis replied: "Sir, there are still terabytes of calculation needed before an actual flight is–"

"Jarvis! Sometimes you got to run before you walk," Tony argued, seeing the projections of the terrain displayed on his visor. "Ready? In three, two, one…"

Like he did before, Tony opened his arms and fired the repulsors, lifting the suit from the ground. For a moment, he stayed in place, the arc reactor and the eyes of his helmet glowing a bright blue against the silver armor, the repulsors thundering in the closed room. He leaned forward.

Then he took off, the suit flying like a rocket.

The HUD mapped his garage ramp as he shot forward and Tony felt his heart beating like crazy as he turned inside the small tunnel, doing his best to stay far from the ceiling and the walls. Then he was out. And he was flying in the night sky.

"HOOOOO!" Tony yelled, exhilarated by the sheer speed he was going up, his repulsors leaving a fiery trail in the air.

It was like nothing he ever experienced. Tony liked adrenalin. Fast cars, fast planes, he had tried them all. But this? This was completely different. It was as if _he_ was flying, his body slicing the skies as he boomed forward, leaving his mansion far behind in seconds, the sea under him.

"Handles like a dream!" he exclaimed, spinning, instinctively controlling his body as he learned how to fly.

Closing his arms, he pierced the sky, the thrusters firing like a missile, the city passing fast under him. He could see an amusement park, his visor automatically measuring and cataloguing every single thing he saw, the lights of the Ferris wheel coloring the night as he flew closer, able to see even the kids enjoying the park.

He felt wonderful as he flew away, _so fast_ , enjoying a freedom of the likes he never imagined he could feel. The clouds opened as he moved and then he turned, going up, the endless night sky greeting him.

"All right, let's see what this thing can do. What's SR-71's record?"

"The altitude record for fixed wing flight is 85000 feet, sir," Jarvis answered, promptly.

"Records are meant to be broken! Come on!" Tony yelled.

The suit left the city behind, going up incredibly fast, the full moon taking up most of his visor as he went up. The speed was overwhelming and yet Tony felt completely in control, as if he was flying without any aid whatsoever; it was amazing.

"Sir, there is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring," Jarvis warned.

"Keep going!" Tony ignored, too ecstatic to care. "Higher!"

That was when his repulsors failed, the ice completely covering his entire armor; the last thing he saw before beginning to fall was his visor turning off, as the suit simply stopped working. Gravity was, suddenly, a very frightening force, as he fell without any control, spinning, his body incapable of even moving.

"We iced up, Jarvis!" Tony screamed as he fell. "Deploy flaps! Jarvis!"

There was no answer. The city was getting closer at each second, the suit feeling as heavy as a mountain right now.

"Come on, we got to break the ice!"

Thinking fast, his mind speeding up as the fear filled him, Tony grabbed the emergency handle on his leg and turned it; the flaps on the back of his suit opened, breaking the crust of ice surrounding him.

And then his visor lighted up again as Jarvis rebooted.

The repulsors fired, glowing in the night, just as he was about to hit the ground; he glided through the street for a moment, almost hitting a car, going up at the last moment. Tony couldn't help the maniacal laugh that escaped his mouth.

Powering up his thrusters, Tony cut the sky back home, the city becoming a blur under him. He felt better than ever, he felt _alive_ and free, maybe for the first time since he escaped those terrorists. In that moment, he felt powerful, able to do anything he wanted, above any worries. There was no Ten Rings, no Stark Industries, no Obie and Rhodey, nothing.

When he brought the suit down, floating over his roof, Tony was smiling, happier than ever. Until, of course, he made the stupid decision to kill the power, hoping that the roof would be strong enough to hold him.

As he discovered as he fell through the floors of his mansion, destroying his piano and finally landing over one of his cars, it wasn't.

* * *

Tony kicked his tools out of the way as he passed through his lab, a bag of ice firmly held against his head. What a mess. His lab was completely disorganized, tools tossed everywhere, his notes scattered, a thick cloud of dust over everything. The painting of all his cars were ruined and one of them was smashed to bits; there was a hole passing through every floor of his house. His entire body was hurting.

And yet, Tony couldn't feel happier.

He felt light, unbothered by any concerns, free. Like he was finally doing what he was supposed to be doing all along. Tony had no idea how to explain, but he was finally where he wanted to be, doing what he wanted to do.

Limping towards his table, he grabbed the coffee mug Pepper brought him – now ice-cold – and drank it. That's when he finally noticed the small box she had left there too. Curious, he smiled at the note that said "From Pepper" glued to it, and ripped the paper covering it.

There, inside a small glass container, was his old arc reactor, displayed with the saying "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart."

Tony was forced to correct himself. He could, indeed, feel happier.

"Sir, before you go to bed, I wanted to inform you that I gathered the information you required about the name 'Godkiller'," Jarvis announced. "When you are feeling up to it, I can show it to you."

Normally, Tony would've jumped at the challenge, ready to solve this mystery. That day, however, had been long. For once, Tony just wanted to lie down and sleep.

"Tomorrow, Jarvis. Tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sir."

* * *

 **Wakandan Borders – April 15** **th** **, 1944**

Diana stepped out of the plane, following Steve. Bucky, Dugan and the rest of the Howling Commandos were already out, waiting for them on the green grass. Behind her, following her close, Peggy, Howard and Erik also got out. Finally, James Howlett jumped out, the last of their group.

It was a beautiful day, with a strong and bright sun, and the wind was blowing strong, caressing the emerald grass. Birds were singing and the sky was blue. No one, however, seemed to be in a good mood, as they looked forward, to the Wakandan Borders.

Stopping by Steve's side, she glanced at him, before turning to where he was looking. She could see mountains all over the horizon, growing tall, the mist flying between them. Closer to where they were, Diana could see round huts, built side by side, simple and small. And standing in front of the huts, was the Border Tribe.

Steve looked at them, waiting for everybody to gather close, then he began to walk to the borders, slowly. The members of the Border Tribe didn't move, but more of them were gathering together, some arriving on horses, some walking. They wore capes and cloaks around them, in bright tones of blue and red, completely covering all their body with the exception of their heads.

When they reached a certain point, the Border Tribe moved. They didn't attack, nor did they make any sudden moves, but the message was clear: that was the limit.

They all stopped. One of the members of the Border Tribe stepped forward.

"You have reached the lands of Wakanda," he spoke in perfect English, though with a heavy accent, his eyes fixed on Steve. "You may not proceed."

He was, without a doubt, a warrior and that was clear even if they couldn't see any weapons under his blue cloak. The man was tall, broad, with a shaved head, very dark skin and painted white marks on his face. Around him, his men stood just as proud, some of them wielding long spears.

Steve didn't seem bothered by the obvious intimidating posture.

"My name is Steve Rogers. I am–"

"I know who you are, Captain America," the man interrupted. He glanced at Bucky. "I know who the Howling Commandos are. I know who Agent Carter is. I know who Howard Stark is." He looked at her. "I know who the Wonder Woman is. It changes nothing. You are not allowed in Wakanda."

"HYDRA is coming!" Steve exclaimed, unable to hide his frustration.

"They are not allowed in either," the man retorted.

"I don't think they care about that," she heard Howard muttering from behind her, but if the leader of the Border Tribe heard him, he made no mention.

"Wakanda can protect itself," the leader announced. "I thank you for the concern, but we will defend our borders as we have been defending since the beginning. You may leave."

Everybody opened their mouths to speak at the same time, ready to argue the dismissal, but before they could Diana heard a small buzzing sound in the distance. She raised her hand in the air, fist closed, and even not understanding why she was doing this, everybody stopped what they were doing, preparing themselves.

The noise continued for a few seconds, as Diana looked around, trying to see from where it was coming. Around her, Steve, the Howling Commandos and the rest of them were on high alert, prepared to fight. The Border Tribe, also, was watching them carefully, hands moving slowly under their cloaks.

And then, without warning, a black aircraft simply appeared out of nothing, just behind the Border Tribe.

Everybody immediately raised their guns, pointing at it, and the Border Tribe drew their swords and spears.

"Wait!" Diana exclaimed. "It's friendly."

That stopped the conflict from escalating, but it didn't make anyone put away their weapons, as they watched the aircraft and the Border Tribe, their eyes moving fast to try and take everything that was happening. The black aircraft began its descent, vertically, in a way Diana had never seen their own planes do. It landed without a sound.

And when the doors opened, the Black Panther walked from it, followed closely by two bald warrior-women.

Immediately, the members of the Border Tribe fell to their knees, completely ignoring them in favor of greeting their king. The Black Panther was exactly like Bast showed her, clad in his black vibranium armor, the mask of the panther covering his head as a long cape waved at each step. The warriors – the Dora Milaje if she recalled – followed him closely, carrying vibranium spears.

"I can't believe this," she heard Howard whispering, but everybody ignored him as the Black Panther got closer.

The Wakandan King passed through the Border Tribe and went to them, without hesitation. And then he stopped right in front of Diana. He crossed both his arms in front of his chest and lightly bowed his head.

"My name is King Azzuri," he announced. "In the name of the Panther Goddess Bast, I greet you and your companions, Diana, Princess of Themyscira. Welcome to Wakanda."

Nobody really knew what to say in response to that.

* * *

 **Hey, guys, how are you doing? Finally the new chapter is out! Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy, but I hope you like it. Review, favorite, follow… Hope you are all doing great!**


	20. Chapter 20 - A New Land and A New Lead

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 20 – A New Land and A New Lead**

 **Wakanda – April 15** **th** **, 1944**

Diana had seen Wakanda through Bast's memories, but nothing could compare to the marvel of seeing it with her own eyes as they flew over it. Tall mountains and valleys, covered by clouds of mist, with deep and ancient forests growing between them. Long rivers where herds of animals sated their thirst, unbothered by any signs of civilization. Extensive plains where they could see the first Wakandans tending to the land, riding horses with an easiness she'd only seen on Themyscira. Everyone inside the aircraft was glued to the windows, the sun glowing gently on their faces, as they watched, amazed.

The amazement was suddenly replaced by panic when the Dora Milaje piloting the aircraft suddenly lunged to the rain forest in front of them, dropping fast.

"This never gets old," King Azzuri whispered, chuckling, despite the looks of fear on the faces of the outsiders.

The Dora Milaje took the aircraft towards the rain forest without hesitation, dropping fast, but when they were about to make contact, instead of a fiery crash, the trees simply glowed blue and disappeared as if they never existed at all; an illusion, Diana gasped, just like they had around Themyscira. And behind the illusion was a city of the likes none of them had ever seen.

"My King, we are home," announced the Dora Milaje.

That was the true Wakanda, Diana realized, astonished, exchanging a look with Steve. The heart of the kingdom created by Bast and Sekhmet. The city was incredible, not as extensive as London, but far more impressive. The buildings were tall and came in all shapes, with windows all over, shining under the sun. There were houses everywhere and dozens of fast vehicles moving in the streets, far more advanced than the ones Diana saw in London. She could see train tracks moving like serpents between the buildings, high up in the air, as the trains moved incredibly fast; not the smoking monstrosities she saw all over Europe, Diana noticed, but fast and clean. Rivers ran all over the city and, unlike London, there were trees everywhere, a perfect mix of civilization and nature. While Themyscira was an ancient place, built with divine magic, and London a city raised with technology in Man's World, Wakanda was something in between.

The perfect balance between technology and the divine magic. A true wonder.

"This is amazing!" Diana exclaimed, fascinated.

"It is truly beautiful," Steve agreed, stunned.

"Impossible," Howard muttered, eyes still wide.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Dugan groaned, the only one there looking down, instead of admiring the view.

The aircraft continued to fly over the city, moving to the center, to the royal palace. As everything else there, the palace was also impressive, with two immense high circular towers linked by a single bridge. And smoothly and silently, like the entire trip had been, the aircraft prepared to land, lowering vertically right in front of the entrance.

They all got up and looked at King Azzuri, standing in the middle of the aircraft without his helmet. Azzuri was a strong man, a warrior, tall as Steve and just as muscled. He had the dark skin of the Wakandans, black short hair and a stern face. The most impressive thing about his appearance, however, was the panther suit he was wearing, black as Bast's fur was, woven with vibranium on its entirety, from the retractable claws on his hands to the golden and silver details on his chest, legs and feet. The helmet, probably its most distinguishable feature, was in the form of a panther's head.

It was an armor built to honor a goddess and to defend Wakanda. An armor that only the Black Panther could wear.

Before anyone said anything, the aircraft opened and a small ramp was lowered. With a gesture for them to follow, Azzuri exited it, walking not unlike the feline his armor honored. Steve was the first to follow him and Diana was right behind him. There was a line of Dora Milaje waiting for them, wearing their red vests, all with shaved heads and vibranium spears. Beyond them, there was a beautiful woman clad in a ceremonial dress, with a Dora Milaje by her right and two little boys younger than Erik standing on her left; Azzuri's family, no doubt.

At the moment Azzuri approached, all the Dora Milaje crossed their arms in front of their chests and hit the ground with their vibranium spears, a movement so well coordinated that they seemed like one entity; Diana would like very much to see what they were capable of in a battlefield.

"Welcome back, my King," the woman greeted, with the same thick accent Azzuri had, opening a bright smile; she was lovely and the smile when she saw her husband made her even more beautiful. She turned to the visitors, waiting for them to arrive closer. "And welcome to you as well, my guests of honor, to the Golden City. This is the first time in many years that we have so many outsiders inside Wakanda."

Steve, polite as he was, bowed in respect, only to be stopped by the Queen.

"We don't that here," she said, smiling, as both her sons openly laughed, obviously finding Steve's embarrassment very funny.

Taking pity on him, King Azzuri advanced, touching his wife's shoulder; for a moment, his face lost all hardness as he looked at her.

"This is my Queen, Nanali," he introduced her. He grabbed his sons, ruffling their hairs. "My sons. My eldest, T'Chaka and my youngest, N'Jobu."

"It is an honor to meet you all," Steve spoke for all of them.

"The honor is ours, Captain," Nanali answered, but she was looking at Diana when she said that. Without warning, she approached the Amazon, crossing her arms in front of her chest, bowing her head slightly and then touching Diana's shoulders. "It is a privilege to finally meet you, Princess Diana of Themyscira. I heard great things about the Amazons."

Diana was again a bit surprised by the deference the Royal family of Wakanda was showing her, but her face betrayed nothing of that.

"The privilege is mine, Queen Nanali," Diana answered. She smiled and looked around. "Wakanda is every bit as impressive as I imagined. Bast's memories are not a match for the real thing."

Nanali's eyes widened when she said that; the entire line of Dora Milaje turned their heads to look at her, the surprise overriding their rigid training for a moment. The two little Princes gasped.

And Diana's companions, of course, remained clueless, looking around trying to understand what was happening.

"We will talk more about that later," King Azzuri announced, after a while. He barked an order in Wakandan and one of the Dora Milaje approached them. "You are my guests in Wakanda and are under my protection. Bathe, eat and rest. Then, we will discuss war."

Saying this, King Azzuri left with his family to the royal palace, followed by a detachment of Dora Milaje.

"Come with me," said the only Dora Milaje left behind.

As she asked, they followed.

* * *

Peggy felt her muscles relaxing under the steaming water of the hot tub, the accumulated stress leaving her tired body as if forced out by the heat. She opened her eyes slightly, the dim light not bothering her vision; of course, calling it a "hot tub" was not entirely accurate. The bathing chambers of the Wakandan royal palace, "The Citadel", were simply immense, an entire hall filled with dozens of heated pools bigger than the Olympic swimming pools they had in England, complete with steam, aromatic herbs and heated stones, which she could only assume were used for massages. It was something out of Ancient Egypt, something straight out of a Pharaoh's palace.

And the only ones using it at the moment were Peggy and Diana; living as a king wasn't bad at all, it seemed.

Or as a Princess, Peggy thought, looking at Diana. She, as the rest of the Howling Commandos and even the filthy rich Howard Stark, were mesmerized by the Citadel and how impressive the palace was, from the size of the structure to the works of art inside, to the amazing technology integrated in it to the luxury present in every single room.

Except for Diana. She found the palace beautiful, of course, and was very vocal in her admiration. But awestruck? Mesmerized? Amazed by how absolutely rich everything looked? No. For Diana, Peggy suspected, the palace was simply a lovely home, just as her own palace on Themyscira was. Steve had told her, after all, how impressive Themyscira had been, with its temples, palaces and statues. Peggy just hadn't understood how much until now.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Diana broke the silence.

"It has been a while since I bathed like this," the Amazon mentioned, sighing in pleasure. "I miss Themyscira's bathhouses."

"This is normal to you?" Peggy couldn't help but to ask.

Diana swam for a few seconds before answering, lost in bliss, only her head appearing outside the water, as if she was some kind of otter; Peggy found that adorable, for some reason.

"Bathhouses?" Diana said, distracted. "Yes, very much. I do not enjoy your showers all that much, to be honest. They are too small."

Yes, they were, to someone used to bathing inside a swimming pool bigger than Peggy's entire apartment.

"Though they are not quite like these," Diana continued, sitting by Peggy's side. "Themyscira's waters come from Apollo's fountains, from Olympus itself. Zeus made sure of that when he created our island." She held a little bit of water in her hands. "They have healing properties. Injuries, tired muscles, even diseases… They are capable of curing it all." Diana looked at her with a mischievous smile. "I wonder if these waters are capable of the same if we apply a little bit more."

Peggy's relaxed brain was a second too late to understand what Diana meant and that costed her the chance to defend herself. Diana used both her arms to toss as much water as she could up in the air; given that she could lift tanks over her head easily, the amount of water she tossed was comparable to a small tsunami, the wave forming an arc before falling with a splash over Peggy's head.

Wonderful, she thought, after the almost literal waterfall pretty much drowned her for a few seconds; was her job now to deal with superpowered children?

"Are you done?" Peggy asked, barely concealing her annoyance, after the waters calmed down again and she could finally sit. Her hair was completely disheveled and Diana laughed like a little girl when she noticed. "If you wanted to play in the water like a child, maybe Erik should've stayed with us after all."

An offer Diana did indeed make, obviously almost making the boy burn of embarrassment; Erik was young, but not _that_ young. Not that it mattered to Diana, since she seemed completely unashamed about nudity, almost disturbingly so.

"Erik was hungry," Diana said, swimming happily, "he wanted to eat first."

No, he wanted to escape before Diana made him die of shame in front of the Howling Commandos, Peggy thought, but chose to remain in silence. That would make Diana go off on a tangent and she had more important things to ask her, like, for example, how did King Azzuri know her and why did he suddenly allow them to enter Wakanda, after denying every previous request the SSR made.

And, maybe a bit more importantly, how could Wakanda be this rich and advanced without anyone knowing about it?

Peggy had seen things since they entered Wakanda that not even Howard had yet dreamed of developing. Technology that the rest of the world could barely comprehend, years ahead of even HYDRA. Vibranium in such high quantities that even the poorest of civilians possessed it, in the form of jewelries or even in their clothes. Vehicles so advanced that it made their planes, cars and trains look like Dark Ages' carriages. Forms of communication that far surpassed their best radios and buildings so well made that Peggy doubted even the Nazis could destroy them with their aerial bombardments.

Wakanda was not the poor country they believed it to be, it was a superpower that could, very easily, face any other nation on Earth and probably win. And Diana, unlike every single one of them, didn't seem the least bit surprised about it.

"Diana, come here for a second," Peggy called her, when the Amazon reached the other side of the pool.

Diana didn't look back, but she obviously heard her, because she dived and pushed herself against the wall, basically turning into a human torpedo as she advanced in Peggy's direction, moving underwater. The SHIELD agent forced herself not to react when Diana appeared by her side, not even a second after she called her, a happy smile on her face.

"Yes?"

Peggy held a sigh at Diana's over-excitement. "Did you know King Azzuri before being introduced today?"

She just shook her head. "I told you, I never left Themyscira before. How would I know him?"

"But he was aware of you," Peggy insisted. "Not only of what you did in the war, but of your title and of Themyscira. We never shared that information with anyone."

Diana just shrugged. "Bast probably told him we were coming and convinced him to allow us in."

Now Peggy did sigh, a bit frustrated. Diana's faith in the pagan gods was a part of her, Peggy understood that, but her willingness to accept such things as the "will of the gods" was maddening. Couldn't she understand how unique their situation was? She had the king of a secretly highly advanced country pretty much bowing to her needs and her explanation was "Bast probably convinced him".

That was unacceptable.

Not for the first time, Peggy entertained the idea that Diana could be like Erik or James, but with abilities they still weren't aware of. Sure, she was strong, fast and highly resistant, to a point that she put super-soldiers to shame, but what if that wasn't all she could do? Humanity had stories of seers and prophets since the dawn of civilization, but what if those people weren't magical or divine? What if they were – what was the term? – _mutants_ exhibiting an ability no one could explain?

Perhaps what Diana and her people thought it was a blessing from the gods was simply a rare mutation. Her strength and speed weren't gifts from Zeus, but her abilities manifesting themselves. So was her dream about the Panther Goddess Bast. Perhaps, unknowingly, Diana had connected her mind with King Azzuri's in some kind of telepathic link; not a vision from a goddess, but an ability that they could, maybe, study and explain some day.

Peggy shook her head, trying to focus. Now she was beginning to sound like Howard and his infinite theories to explain what Diana could do. In the end, Peggy knew, it didn't really matter. Diana could be a divine warrior, a mutant or a leprechaun for all she cared, it didn't change a thing about who she was. But Peggy did want to know how King Azzuri knew about her and why exactly he seemed so respectful to her.

Maybe, if she found out that, then she could begin to understand how Wakanda came to be so advanced.

A chuckle snapped Peggy out of her musings; she looked at Diana, still sitting by her side, glancing at her with a small smile.

"You do not believe me, do you?" Diana asked, sounding resigned rather than accusing; she sighed, looking up.

Peggy opened her mouth to explain, but nothing came out. She thought a bit for a second, trying to find the right words, words that wouldn't offend Diana.

"Diana, I respect you and your faith," Peggy started, slowly. "You are a friend and I trust you. But I can't use the words 'a god did it' on an intelligence report, it doesn't work like that."

"You are looking at it the wrong way, Peggy," Diana retorted, turning to her. She observed Peggy for a few seconds, then asked: "What are gods?"

"Excuse me?" Peggy exclaimed, caught off guard.

"What is your understanding of a god?" Diana asked again, still staring at her. "What does the word mean to you?"

Where was she going with this?

"It's, um, an all-powerful being," Peggy answered after a few seconds of thinking. "Knows everything, created everything, can do anything."

"The Olympians were not like that," Diana said, raising a single eyebrow, "nor are a great many deal of other beings we refer to as 'gods'. Did I not tell you that Zeus and the rest of the Olympians were defeated and destroyed by Ares? Did I not tell you that my mission is to kill Ares with the Godkiller sword? Would an omnipotent being suffer such indignities?"

Now that Diana said it, Peggy suddenly understood that maybe the word "god" didn't mean the same thing to them at all.

"What are gods to you, then?" Peggy asked, hesitantly.

"Powerful and wise entities that rule over the universe," Diana answered, immediately. "Ancient beings that govern nature and men and are responsible for guiding our world. They are not necessarily good or bad, they just are." She looked at Peggy. "Not eternal, not undying, not all-powerful and very much capable of failure, but great nevertheless." Diana got closer to Peggy, leaning so she could speak lower. "You are not unused to the idea of powerful beings existing, Peggy," Diana continued. "Erik, James… Me. Even Steve, all powerful in our own way."

"But you are not gods," Peggy countered, instantly.

"No, but some of the people I saved from the Death Camps called me 'goddess'. Erik can do things that some would call a divine power. Some of the victims in Auschwitz implied that Steve was, and I quote, 'godsent'. And I shudder to think what would happen if one of those religious people you showed me in London were to witness James raising from the dead after being shot."

Diana smiled at her and at that moment she didn't look like the clueless girl fascinated by ice-cream that thought throwing water at her was the funniest thing in the world, but a truly wise woman, with old and intelligent eyes; Peggy, for some reason, felt like a child under that gaze.

" _I_ believe that the Olympians are gods," Diana stated. " _I_ believe Zeus created mankind, the Amazons and gave me life. _I_ believe Poseidon ruled over the seas and the Atlanteans. _I_ believe Hades guides our souls to the afterlife." She got closer from Peggy, delicately pushing a strand of hair out of her face. "But _you_ do not have to."

"What do you mean?" Peggy asked and for some reason her voice was but a whisper.

"You do not have to believe the Olympians were gods, Peggy, nor Bast for that matter," Diana explained, gently. "You do not have to believe that Zeus created mankind or that Hades guides the souls of the dead. But would it be so outlandish, so _impossible_ , to believe that they existed? Not as gods, not as you understand it, but as powerful beings that made contact with our world and guided us, protected us, taught us. The Amazons existed for far longer than even your homeland and outside of a few legends you did not even know about us."

Diana opened her arms, gesturing to the room around her. Or, more accurately, to the kingdom around them.

"Would it be so surprising that Wakanda was guided by Bast and Sekhmet? That two powerful beings gave the Wakandans a little push in the beginning? That Bast still cares for a land she helped to grow and found a way to help it, now that they need it most? Not as an omnipotent being, but as a powerful woman, with similar gifts that you have seen even humans displaying."

When Diana explained it like that, no, it didn't sound so outlandish, Peggy thought. And it was funny that she didn't even consider something like that before Diana pointed it out. Peggy outright rejected the idea that gods existed, that Diana's religion could be real, because really, how could it be? There was no such thing as gods and they certainly weren't ruling over humanity, not with all that chaos happening everywhere.

But powerful beings that came to be worshipped as gods in the past? Beings such as Diana herself – such as Erik and James and Steve and even the Red Skull –, so much stronger than ordinary humans that people couldn't help but to think they were something else, something _divine_?

Maybe, Peggy considered, maybe that explanation she could accept.

"Tell me what you know about Wakanda, Diana," Peggy asked, after a few minutes in silence, digesting Diana's words. "And don't leave anything out, not even Bast."

Diana looked a bit surprised, but she had a pleased glow in her eyes when she began to talk.

* * *

Steve closed his eyes as he chewed his food, content. It was one of the most delicious things he had ever tasted, a mix of rice, lamb, vegetables and spices, cooked together inside a huge pot; it was incredible and, more importantly, it had enough to sate all of them, even considering his super-soldier stomach. Eating inside that beautiful room in the palace, comfortable and in peace, was bliss and Steve was enjoying it while he could.

It didn't last, because Howard felt the need to ruin that.

"So, Cap, what's the deal with the King and Princess?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard amongst the cutlery noises. "You think he's sweet on your girl? Maybe trying to find another wife for his harem? Do Wakandans even do that, does anyone know?"

Steve almost choked on his food, while looking around frantically to make sure Howard hadn't offended anybody. There was one guard stationed at the door, quite far from them – a Dora Milaje, Diana called them – but she didn't seem to react to what Howard said.

"Will you show some respect, Howard?!" Steve reprehended him, whispering fiercely, drinking a big gulp of water to force the food down. "He's a king! And Diana isn't my girl," he added quickly, willing his blush away.

"Oh, relax! She can't speak English," Howard answered, waving off his concern. "I asked her thousands of questions and she just kept looking at me with that intense glare." All of them turned to look at the warrior woman, who responded by silently glaring at them just like Howard said. "See? That one."

"Maybe she's annoyed at you," Bucky suggested. "I mean, you have been… annoying."

That was an understatement and everyone there agreed, even when Howard glanced offended at them. When Howard's shock at the highly developed Wakanda faded, it gave room for enthusiasm and a never-ending curiosity. He began to talk to himself, wave theories, ask questions to anyone who could hear him… Steve couldn't honestly blame him for that, because Wakanda had more than surprised him too – it had surprised all of them –, but Howard just wouldn't stop.

He wanted to know about everything. The aircraft that took them to the palace, the one that flew in almost complete silence and could turn invisible, the unbelievably tall buildings, in all shapes, that filled the city, the advanced vehicles used by the civilians… What impressed Steve and Howard more, however, was the sheer amount of vibranium present _everywhere_.

Steve couldn't help but to glance at his shield for a moment. Howard had told him that every single vibranium they had was used to make him that shield. A very useful shield, no doubt, but it was _one_ shield; they'd seen servants in the palace wearing jewelry made of vibranium. Soldiers wielding weapons made entirely of vibranium, vehicles built with vibranium, art made with vibranium. Outside Wakanda, his shield was one of the most expensive military gear the SSR had, but in there? It was a trinket at best.

Wakanda was nothing like they expected. It was a superpowered nation posing as a poor country to avoid international interference, with technology decades ahead the rest of the world. On one hand, that was a good thing, it meant they were not lying when they said they could defend themselves from HYDRA.

On the other hand, however, it meant that HYDRA had _that much more_ to gain if they managed to somehow penetrate Wakanda's defenses.

Vibranium, to start, in huge quantities. More than enough to equip their entire forces and to fuel their experiments for centuries to come. Technology that they could reverse-engineer, if they managed to acquire samples. Money to finance their war. Substances, like that heart-shaped herb Howard and Erskine were after, that could be used to enhance their soldiers… Wakanda was a fortress, but if it fell, it would become the biggest prize in the war.

They couldn't allow that to happen.

"If the pursuit of knowledge is considered 'annoying'," Howard started, grabbing Steve's attention, "then it's no wonder humanity is in this sorry state, Sergeant Barnes."

"You were the one who said the Wakandans were nothing but primitives!" Bucky countered and Steve, once again, fretted about offending anyone.

"And like a proper man of science, I accepted that I was working with limited information and went in pursue of additional data," Howard retorted. "Is this considered 'annoying'?"

"Yes," James Howlett grunted, not even looking at him as he continued to eat; the entirety of the Howling Commandos nodded in agreement.

Howard pretended not to hear or see any of them. "Isn't the fact that Wakanda is so advanced surprising for any of you? Or the fact that they managed to keep all this concealed? That they are basically sitting on a mountain of vibranium?"

"Diana told you that much," Bucky argued.

"No, Princess told us a story about gods and magic, not about technology," Howard corrected immediately. He stopped for a moment. "Though I do recognize that she must've known something. After all, the king did know about her, didn't he? I think she is the only reason why they allowed us in." He turned to Steve and the Captain just knew that nothing good would come out of this. "Which brings me back to my original point: what's the deal with the King and Princess?"

In truth, Steve had no idea. And since Diana and Peggy went to clean themselves first he wasn't able to ask. But it was clear that King Azzuri knew about her, about the _real_ Diana, Amazons of Themyscira and all. How, Steve had no idea, but he knew and he deeply respected her, that much was clear. Did Themyscira and Wakanda have history? Did King Azzuri knew about the Amazons and about what they could do?

The one thing he knew for certain is that King Azzuri was _not_ trying to add Diana to a harem he was sure it didn't even exist. At least he truly hoped so.

"We'll ask her when she arrives," Steve stated, putting an end to the conversation before it got even weirder.

"They are taking their sweet time, aren't them?" Howard mentioned, his lips twisting into a lecherous smile. "What do you think they're doing?" He glanced at a silent Erik with his eyebrows raised. "You lost your chance to see something you would've cherished for the rest of your life, kid."

Erik didn't say anything in response, but it was clear that his limited English was enough to understand Howard; Steve never saw someone turn _that_ red.

"I should go get them," Howard decided.

"You're not going anywhere!" Steve exclaimed immediately.

"No, let him go," Bucky disagreed, smiling. "I'm really curious about how many times Peggy can shoot him before Diana tears him apart with her bare hands."

"Diana probably wouldn't mind," Howard said, smugly. "She doesn't really care about nudity. Isn't that true, 'Captain Above Average'?"

Steve sighed. He wanted to argue, but he knew Howard was right.

"Peggy will shoot you, though," Steve insisted.

"I would gladly take a bullet for a view like that," Howard answered, gloating.

"Probably not where Peggy is going to shoot you, I guarantee," Steve implied, raising a single eyebrow.

Howard got what he meant, if his pale face was any indication.

"I'll take those odds," James Howlett said, smirking, with all the confidence only a man who could heal almost instantly from any wound could possess. Steve glared at him, unamused by the joke. "Just yanking your chain, Cap, don't worry. I know you got dibs on the Amazon."

Steve opened his mouth to contest that statement, but something made him stop. It wasn't true, of course, he didn't have "dibs" on anyone and the very idea that this concept even existed was disrespectful. But if it kept that man away from Diana, wasn't his gentlemanly duty to do it? He certainly thought so.

"You got that right, Diana is taken," Bucky said, slapping his shoulder, as every member of the Howling Commandos murmured in approval.

He held a sigh; no matter how misguided, at least his friends had his back. Eventually, Howard sat down again, unwilling to risk important body parts to see a little bit of skin – no matter how tempting it was – and the conversation branched beyond them, as the Howling Commandos talked amongst themselves. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was talking to him, Steve checked on Erik, to see if he was eating properly, something he promised to Diana.

"How's the food, Erik? Good?" Steve asked, smiling at the boy at his right.

Erik was quick to nod, visibly embarrassed to be looked after. "It is very good, Captain Rogers."

"Steve," he corrected, gently, for the hundredth time.

His English was improving, he noticed; Erik already knew a bit of the language before they met, but talking and listening English the whole day, every day, was forcing him to improve fast.

"Steve," Erik agreed, though he didn't meet his eyes when he said it. "You can tell Lady Diana I am eating well."

Steve chuckled. "Won't matter, she'll fill your plate again as soon as she gets here."

The boy groaned, but it was easy to see he appreciated the gesture. "Maybe I should stop eating now, then."

"That's a good idea. So, how are you liking Wakanda?"

Erik hesitated a bit, obviously thinking about his words. "It is beautiful."

It was, Steve agreed, but it became quite clear that Erik wanted to say more.

"But?" Steve insisted.

"It is not something bad… I mean, it is good. I think," Erik started. He stopped, gathering his thoughts; Erik stared in Steve's eyes. "It is everywhere. Vibranium, I mean. _Everywhere_. The weapons, the vehicles, the equipment, the buildings… The ground, the water, our food, even inside the people. I can feel _everything_."

That was not what Steve was expecting when he asked his question. The fact that Erik could sense and control metal didn't even cross his mind when they entered Wakanda, but maybe it should have. Wakanda was the home of the strongest metal on Earth and apparently the whole land was soaked in it.

And Erik had the ability to feel all that.

"Is it uncomfortable?" Steve asked, worried. "Is it making you feel bad?"

"No! On the contrary, Captain R–Steve. It's incredible! I feel like the whole country is a part of me," Erik explained, smiling widely, clearly thrilled by the novelty.

"That's good," Steve said, relieved. "Just, you know, be careful."

"Yes, try not to yank anyone's liver if you use your abilities," Howard said, butting in their conversation. "That would not go well for anybody."

Steve sighed, rolling his eyes. Where were Diana and Peggy?

* * *

Azzuri crossed the throne room walking fast. The faithful Commander of the Dora Milaje, Aneka, followed closely, her red robes and her vibranium spear whispering softly in the air to his enhanced hearing. He was no longer clad in his Black Panther armor, but in normal garbs; well, normal to Wakanda, because the purple cloth was woven with vibranium and despite its light appearance, it worked as a body armor just fine.

"How are our guests?" Azzuri asked, quickly reading a few documents on his table.

"Eating," Aneka answered, her voice low and emotionless. "Ayo informed me Agent Carter and Princess Diana just joined them. A few of the Howling Commandos left to bathe."

"And Nanali and the boys?"

"In their chambers. I put an additional detachment of guards around them."

Azzuri put the paper he was reading down and looked at his most prized warrior. Aneka was a fearsome soldier, his best Dora Milaje, loyal and devoted to him and Wakanda. She was tall and even clad in her red robes it was clear to anyone who looked that she was muscled, not bulky, but lean and defined like a lioness. Like every Dora Milaje, she had a shaved head and her scalp was tattooed with Wakandan runes.

Aneka was a warrior that few could match and her severe grey eyes made that perfectly clear; eyes that were now aimed at him. To those who did not know her, her face was unreadable, but Azzuri could see how displeased she was. He sighed.

"What is bothering you, Aneka?" Azzuri asked.

"It is not my place to say, my King," she answered, immediately.

"Since _when_? Because I vividly remember you being very vocal with me when you disagree with something."

She was the Commander of the Dora Milaje, but more than that, she was a friend and had been since they were children. Azzuri was not fooled by her sudden adherence to protocol one bit. Aneka hesitated for a moment.

"I do not like this, my King," she admitted. "Outsiders in Wakanda. It is not natural."

"They are here to help us, Aneka, at a great personal cost," Azzuri explained, gently. "They are risking their lives to protect Wakanda and they have agreed to keep what they see here to themselves."

Something he knew it wouldn't happen, but at least he hoped the secret would stay guarded between a few trusted ones, in the SSR.

"They have brought their war to our doorsteps!" Aneka exclaimed, raising her voice a bit, not disrespectfully, but fiercely. "For thousands of years Wakanda remained uninvolved in any outside conflict. We observed from within our borders since the beginning, as empires rose and fell. We did not involve ourselves even when they started their first World War." She approached Azzuri. "Why are we doing this, my King? If enemies decide to attack us, it is our responsibility to deal with them. We do not need help. We do not need to join their war."

Azzuri sighed, tiredly. Aneka did not tell him anything he had not already considered. It was true, Wakanda was not supposed to interfere with the outside world. It was their law, set by Bast herself after she defeated her own sister, Sekhmet, to protect their secret. They were too advanced, too strong, too dangerous and any attempt to disclosure Wakanda's true potential would result in bloodshed. People would covet what they had if they knew what lied inside their borders and they would have to defend themselves.

It would create a cycle of violence that would never be broken. It would force Wakanda to go to war or allow others to take war to them. In the end, either Wakanda or the rest of the world would lie in ruins.

He understood that very well. His father had taught him that, as his father's father had taught him before. Protect the Secret, that was their most important rule. But things had changed. This war was unlike anything their world had seen before. The sheer casualties were staggering, as were the horrors inflicted by the Nazis. It went beyond that, however, beyond the terror of war.

Wakanda might not have involved itself into outside problems, but they had watched closely throughout history. That was the purpose of the War Dogs, after all. They had seen the destruction and the senseless killings before. They had seen empires built upon the bones of innocents. They had seen cruel leaders burning and pillaging and enslaving. There was always an empire and there was always a man.

Not this time, though. This time they were not facing a man, but a god. Ares, the God of War, was responsible for all this.

As any Wakandan, Azzuri had a firm belief in Bast. That belief turned into fact when he became a Black Panther and actually saw the goddess, awed by her very presence. He knew the gods were real and he knew that many of them were not as kind-hearted as the Panther Goddess was. Ares was such a god. Cruel, bloodthirsty, but above all, powerful. Powerful beyond anything they could imagine. A being that could feed on conflict and grow stronger, a being that would feast on this war until the whole world, Wakanda included, was ashes.

The Nazis, HYDRA… Peons of the God of War, true, but dangerous ones. And Bast told him they were coming to Wakanda. At first, Azzuri thought like Aneka, that Wakanda could handle it. And maybe that was true, but any war against HYDRA would feed Ares. There was no victory in sight, not when any outcome of their battle would suit the God of War. But things were even worse than he thought. It was not only a matter of fighting HYDRA and feeding Ares, it was what Ares planned to do.

Bring Sekhmet back to their world. And with her, all the fury and rage of a goddess that loved Wakanda more than anything, a goddess that would not stop until the entire world belonged to them. A goddess that would create such a war in her quest to defend Wakanda that eventually other deities would involve themselves. And Ares would feed on all that.

Azzuri did not know what to do. For the first time, he did not have the power to protect Wakanda, not against an enemy like this. Not against a god. HYDRA could not be allowed to bring Sekhmet back, no matter what. Because if he did, Wakanda would follow her to war despite his or Bast's wishes and Ares would become so powerful that their world would burn. He needed help. For the first time, Wakanda needed outside help.

But not just any help, the help of the Daughter of Zeus herself.

The Black Panther could not defend Wakanda against Ares. Bast and Sekhmet could not defend Wakanda against Ares. Princess Diana of Themyscira, however, Daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus, could. She was born for this. She was the Godkiller, blessed with the power of Zeus and the Olympians, destined to end Ares.

Diana alone had any hope of facing the God of War, of ending this war. She was the only one that could stop Ares from destroying Wakanda and the rest of the world. As Bast said it, Diana was their salvation. A Goddess, Heiress of the Throne of Olympus and Themyscira, worthy of the same amount of respect they owed Bast.

Not that she knew any of that. And until the time was right, she wouldn't. Her true heritage, her destiny, would have to play out naturally, as fate demanded. Diana did not know she was goddess – a demigoddess, really, not that the term made much of a difference – and Azzuri would keep it that way, as per Bast's wishes. But goddess or not, Diana was there to help them, as were Captain America and the Howling Commandos.

Azzuri might not have liked the situation they were in, but he could appreciate their willingness to help.

"Things are more complicated than they seem, Aneka," Azzuri finally answered. She kept staring at him, no doubt waiting for a broader explanation. "I had a vison from Bast," he admitted.

For a moment, Aneka's carefully cool expression turned into pure shock.

"Bast? I thought you needed the Heart-Shaped Herb for this," she said, slowly.

"So did I. She came to me in my dreams." Azzuri grabbed Aneka by her shoulders. "Wakanda is in grave danger, Aneka. We are in the brink of total destruction. HYDRA is not what they seem. Someone else is pulling the strings."

"Who?" Aneka whispered.

"A God of War," Azzuri answered and Aneka's eyes widened for a second. "Ares. He is the one behind this war. He is building up his strength, feeding on the conflict, growing more powerful at each bullet fired, each drop of blood shed. We cannot face him alone."

"The Amazon?" Aneka guessed.

Azzuri nodded. "Her kind was created by Zeus to defeat Ares, it is their mission, her calling. Bast appeared to her as well, she was the one who asked for help." He stopped for a moment. "We are dealing with things far beyond us, my friend. A war between gods is brewing. Wakanda stood alone for millennia. It is time for us to gather some allies."

Aneka agreed in silence, still too shocked to say anything. Azzuri began to walk, leaving the throne room, but before he walked more than a few steps, he turned.

"And Aneka, I have an order," Azzuri said, with all his royal authority. "I say this not as your friend, but as your King." Aneka stared at him, standing up straight, her spear by her side. "I do not know what we will face, but I do know Wakanda is going to battle a God of War. Anything can happen. And if during the battle you, as Commander of the Dora Milaje, is forced to choose between me, your King, and Diana… I command you to choose her."

"What?!" Aneka exclaimed. "My King, I cannot–"

"This is not a request," Azzuri interrupted, his eyes severe. "Wakanda can survive my death. It has you, it has Nanali and it has my sons. But the world cannot survive without Diana. If she does not defeat Ares, Earth will burn."

Saying this, Azzuri walked out, leaving behind a still frozen Aneka.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 12** **th** **, 2010**

Tony Stark could not believe what he was seeing. At that moment, his mind was entirely focused on the words on his screen, as he read all the documents Jarvis had hacked from several intelligence agencies across the world. And what he was reading was so impressive, so incredibly impossible, that everything else normally playing on the background of his mind was muted. Thoughts about his new suit of armor, memories of his time in captivity, the pressure from Stark Industries, Pepper… They were all gone.

And in their place was all the new information he had on Godkiller.

Terabytes of information, documents, photos, investigations… And yet, nothing conclusive. Not one picture of the so called "Godkiller", no confirmation about whereabouts, no evidence concerning _what the hell he was reading about_. No, what Tony had in front of him were the outcomes of the Godkiller's rampages throughout the world.

Afghanistan, Rwanda, Russia, China, Italy, Brazil, Peru... Dozens of different places all around the globe. And everywhere Godkiller passed, there was a sudden fall on criminal activity and a surge in lives being saved. Soldiers attacking civilians, death squads, mobsters, cartels, people traffickers, violent criminals… Their activities went dark, coincidently at the same time Godkiller was spotted. The numbers started spiking during the nineties and kept on growing, but the pattern existed all the way to the World War 2.

Where there were living witnesses that testified, under oath, that they had seen a woman fighting alongside Captain America against the Nazis, saving people left and right with her "divine abilities".

A woman they affectionally referred to as "Wonder Woman", which by all accounts, was the same being known as Godkiller.

Tony took a deep breath. What the hell was going on?! Who was this Godkiller woman? Why was she fighting the Ten Rings? Why did she rescue him from the desert? And more importantly, _how the fuck was it possible that his father never mentioned any of this_?

Howard Stark fought with the SSR during World War 2, right by Captain America's side; that was a story Tony heard, at least, ten thousand times. Probably more! How Captain America was such a hero, how he helped Captain America save the world, how they fought HYDRA, how Tony should be more like Captain America…

And yet, in none of those stories, Howard Stark mentioned this "Wonder Woman". Why? How? By all accounts, she was right there with them, fighting well enough to impress veterans and victims from the Death Camps so much that they remembered her to this day. Hell, every single member of the Howling Commandos had a section in the Smithsonian! How exactly did the fact that a woman was fighting by Captain America's side was left out? How could they forget this?

Because if Tony had to classify what some of those pictures Jarvis hacked showed, one of the first words that crossed his mind was "unforgettable". Tony might've never fought in the army, but war was his livelihood up until a few days ago and he understood it better than most. And what he was seeing there simply wasn't normal. Wasn't _possible_.

The pictures, several of them black and white, showed him the outcomes of Godkiller's battles and Tony couldn't find any signs of guns being used. There were destroyed buildings, blown up vehicles, dead criminals all around… And yet, no signs of bombs and bullets being used against the dead; which shouldn't be possible. There was no way anything other than a bomb could generate enough force to do that kind of damage to bunkers and tanks and yet, there it was. Bent steel, broken concrete, entire buildings collapsed… He could swear he saw the form of a hand imprinted on one of the tanks, but the quality of the photo wasn't good enough to be certain.

The dead criminals, likewise, showed no signs of being killed by explosions or bullets, but by blunt force trauma and some kind of blade; Tony wanted to say "sword", but what kind of crazy person would take a sword to a gun fight? There were entire battalions dead, whole criminal organizations, and all the evidence pointed to one single person doing all that, not using any advanced weapon.

Nothing about that could possibly be just ignored, left out from the history books. So how exactly people just forgot about it?

The answer was simple: they hadn't. Someone covered it up. That was the only explanation. Someone he probably should refer to as "father".

It was no coincidence that his dad never mentioned Wonder Woman or that she never showed up in the history books. No coincidence that the intelligence agencies all over the world had so little on her. And it was most definitely not a coincidence that Godkiller – that Wonder Woman – had shown up to rescue him from the terrorists.

She knew his father, Tony realized. They fought together during World War 2. They knew each other well enough to be considered friends or, at least, enough to trust each other. Of course, how Howard had covered it up he had no idea, but even he had to admit his father was resourceful. The question was "why"?

Closing his eyes, Tony allowed his brain to go into overdrive, thinking about every possibility. She could be a super-soldier, he realized, like Captain America. That would explain how she was still alive, still healthy, even after all this time. And it would explain how she could fight like that, well enough to destroy criminal organizations all over the world; that wasn't only skill, it was sheer power.

But then, why was she on the loose? Did she run away? Was that why his father covered it all up, so she could escape? So she could live her life without being a lab rat? It was a possibility. Or she might not be a super-soldier at all, but a mutant. He wasn't an expert, but he read about them, saw some powerful individuals popping up in the news. As far as he knew, it wouldn't be impossible for a mutant to exhibit enhanced strength or even longer lifespans. Whatever the reason, his father had covered her tracks. And maybe as a "thank you", she showed to try to help him when he was kidnapped.

There was also the possibility that he was completely wrong, reading too much into it, he admitted. Maybe she didn't show up there to help him at all. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Either way, he owed her his life. And he would like to say "thank you" in person, if at all possible.

"Jarvis, where did we put my father's stuff? From the mansion?" Tony asked, suddenly.

"It is in the basement, sir," the AI promptly responded.

Without hesitating, Tony buzzed Pepper.

"Pepper, you there?"

There was a moment of silence.

" _Yes, do you need something?_ " Pepper answered.

"Have you been going to the gym? I'm gonna need your help to carry some things."

Maybe he would find more information directly from someone who probably knew Godkiller.

* * *

 **Wakanda – April 15** **th** **, 1944**

Diana ate the last bit of food from her plate and pushed it away, more than satisfied. The food was different from what she was accustomed to, with different ingredients and different spices, but it was delicious all the same. And the desserts! All kinds of cakes, fruits, honey… They even had ice-cream! She ate everything she could, not forgetting, of course, to feed Erik a little bit of everything.

Most of the Howling Commandos, Steve included, had already bathed and were now resting. Peggy had eaten much faster than her and was now in silence, pensive, probably still considering everything Diana told her about Wakanda. The only one talking non-stop was Howard, but she learned to tune him out when he started his rumblings; Diana couldn't understand why he was still so shocked by all this, she'd told him Wakanda was powerful, didn't she?

Lying back, resting against the chair, Diana allowed herself to relax for a second. She felt completely clean for the first time since she left Themyscira, her belly was full and her body felt rested. It wouldn't last, she knew it, but she would enjoy it while she could.

As if reading her thoughts, the door opened and one of the Dora Milaje entered, walking with purpose in her direction. It was a young woman, Diana noticed, but from what she could tell from her muscles and from the way she moved, she was an accomplished warrior; the Dora Milaje were the royal guard of Wakanda, after all, they only accepted the best. She stopped in front of her, bowing her head respectfully.

"Lady Diana, are you finished?" she questioned. "Should I ask for more food to be brought?"

Diana still wasn't used to this. She was a princess, but in Themyscira there was not much room for subservience. There was respect, of course, and any Amazon would obey her mother without question, but they were more like sisters, a big family, than rulers. Here, however, things were different and it would take a while until she accepted this.

"No, thank you, it was delicious," Diana answered, looking at the woman.

Everyone was looking at her, she noticed, with strangely surprised faces.

"You speak English?!" Howard exclaimed.

The Dora Milaje glanced in his direction for a second; Diana couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw the ghost of a smile playing on her lips for a moment. She turned back to Diana.

"If you are done eating, then I ask you to accompany me, Lady Diana. Captain Rogers, Agent Carter and Mr. Stark too. The King is ready for you."

Nodding, Diana got up, grabbing her sword and shield as she did so. Steve, Peggy and Howard got up as well, exchanging some parting words with the Howling Commandos, before following the Dora Milaje.

"What is your name?" Diana asked, tired of referring to her as Dora Milaje.

The woman seemed startled for a moment, before answering. "I am Ayo, Lady Diana."

"Please, call me Diana," she asked.

Ayo simply shook her head. "It is not proper, my Lady."

She saw Howard rolling his eyes. "Come on, she is a chill princess," he said, "I promise you won't get executed for this."

The Dora Milaje glared at Howard. "You know not of what you speak. Fear has nothing to do with this. It is a matter of respect."

"About that… Why exactly _do_ you respect Diana so much?" Howard inquired. "Because I'm beginning to think she is the only one actually invited to stay in Wakanda and the rest of us are just cumbersome tagalongs."

"Howard!" Steve warned.

"This could not be further from the truth," Ayo answered, still guiding them through the palace. "Captain America and Agent Carter are very welcome too."

"Wha–"

Before Howard could go on with his indignation, Ayo entered in a hallway and stopped in front of a closed door. There were two Dora Milaje there, one on each side, both holding their spears. Without the need for any word, both of them clashed their spears on the ground and the doors opened, revealing a room with a huge table in the middle. King Azzuri was there, waiting for them, and another Dora Milaje was standing at his side.

"Thank you, Ayo, you may leave," Azzuri spoke, dismissing the warrior. Diana gave the woman a last smile and went in, following Steve.

The King of Wakanda was not clad in his panther armor anymore, but normal clothes, which did nothing to lessen his imposing figure. He opened his arms, as if greeting them, as the door closed behind them. Diana noticed two vibranium rings glowing on his hands, before he spoke.

"Thank you for coming. I hope you managed to rest, at least for a bit," the King said. He looked at the Dora Milaje. "This is Aneka, she is the General of the Dora Milaje and my most trustful warrior."

Aneka said nothing, but bowed her head slightly in greeting. She was wearing the same red robes Ayo was, holding a similar vibranium spear and her head was shaved like the rest of the Dora Milaje, but it took Diana one look to confirm Aneka was above her peers. Something in her eyes marked her as a leader – something Steve's eyes had too – and once again Diana was reminded of the Amazons.

"We are grateful for your hospitality, your Majesty," Steve said, respectful.

"Unfortunately, we must discuss something much less enjoyable now," Azzuri said, sighing. "War."

As he said this, Azzuri pressed a button on the table and suddenly it glowed blue. In front of their eyes, the blue light seemed to shape itself, taking form, until it turned into what Diana could only imagine it was a replica of Wakanda itself.

"Incredible!" Peggy whispered, voicing their thoughts.

"Is it magic?" Diana asked, in awe.

"A holographic projection," Howard said, getting closer. "I toyed with the idea, once, you know? Didn't really get anywhere yet, but it's a matter of time."

"We have them for decades," Aneka informed, almost bored.

Howard stared at her for a second. "Huh… How about that?"

Azzuri touched the light – touched it, as if it were solid, Diana marveled – and rotated the replica of his kingdom. It was like they were watching Wakanda from above, able to see every tree, every mountain, every lake and river, every building of every city, including the Golden City where they were.

"Do you mind, Mr. Stark?" Azzuri asked, gesturing towards the hologram. "Telling us how hard it is to enter Wakanda without an invitation, I mean. After all, you have experience trying, do you not?"

Peggy snorted in a very unladylike way; Howard was not amused, but he approached the table.

"As you wish, your Majesty," Howard complied, mock-bowing; Azzuri seemed amused, but Aneka certainly wasn't. "Alright, let's see… When Erskine and I tried to get in Wakanda, we studied the layout for a while, trying to find a way." He pointed towards one side of the border. "As you can see, this side is protected by huge mountain formations. I mean, we could try to climb them, but, to be honest, I don't think we would've been successful."

"You would not," Aneka said, her grey eyes staring at him for a moment. "The mountains are heavily guarded."

"Could HYDRA fly above them?" Steve asked.

"They could try, but we have anti-aircraft artillery installed there," Aneka answered. "No hostile force will fly over those mountains."

"Well, good to know we didn't take that way, then," Howard continued, pointing at another border. "This side over here is nothing but valleys, rivers and mist. You can't see a thing and without a proper guide there is no way to find your way."

"Also heavily guarded by the Border Tribe and the River Tribe," Aneka added.

"Yes, we didn't go through there either. We tried to cross the rain forest," Howard said, indicating a huge mass of trees. He sighed. "Gotta tell you, not my best moment."

"Why is that?" Diana asked, curious.

"For one, we faced the same problem we would have faced if we tried to cross through the valleys and rivers," Howard explained. "Which was, we needed a guide to find our way. Add to that the heat, the humidity, very cold nights, man-eating predators and every single kind of insect on this planet and you'll have an idea of what it was like. Things only got worse when we lost our guide."

"Your guide died?" Steve asked, widening his eyes.

"I have no idea, we _literally_ lost him," Howard answered. "We stopped for the night and _POOF_ , no more guide. He just disappeared in the mist."

"We found him," Azzuri informed, slowly. "The Border Tribe took him from the mouth of a panther."

Howard shook his head, serious for once. "Poor guy. He was unpleasant, don't get me wrong, but he didn't deserve to get eaten alive by a panther."

"Oh, no, he was not eaten," Azzuri clarified. "We rescued him before the panther could hurt him too much."

"Huh… Then what?" Howard asked.

"We took care of his wounds and sent him back home, unharmed," Azzuri said, staring at Howard. "We are not savages, Mr. Stark, despite what you may think of us."

"Sorry, but it's kinda hard to think otherwise when you chased me and Erskine through the forest with spears," Howard countered, raising his eyebrows. "Almost gave Erskine a heart-attack and then where would we be now?"

"If the Border Tribe wanted you dead," Aneka deadpanned, "you would be dead."

Howard opened his mouth to argue, but King Azzuri interrupted.

"The Border Tribe's main function is to protect Wakanda from outside threats," the King said.

"I wasn't a threat! I wasn't even armed!"

"Look around us, Mr. Stark," Azzuri asked. "The very knowledge that Wakanda is not the poor country everybody thinks we are is a threat. Knowledge that you would have acquired, had the Border Tribe not intervened."

"Oh, please! We weren't invaders, we were trying to help the war effort. You know, to stop the World War? Wakanda still is part of the world, isn't it?"

"You doubt me?" Azzuri questioned. "Wakanda existed for thousands of years, Mr. Stark. We have seen what happens when empires from all over the world find a place filled with riches. This entire continent suffered from this, from nations looking to colonize lands where people were already living in. Territory, gold, precious gems, people… Vibranium, the Heart-Shaped Herb. Every time this happened in the course of history, the stronger nation would enslave the weaker in the end and take everything they could from it."

He tapped the hologram and Wakanda's representation faded, giving place to the African continent, as if it was a map drawn with light.

"Throughout history this continent suffered, their lands taken, their resources stolen, their people killed and enslaved. What do you think it would happen if the world found out about Wakanda, about what we _really_ have?"

"Some would try to take it away from you," Steve said, somber.

"But in this case, Wakanda is not the weaker nation," King Azzuri stated. "When Rome was barely a village, Wakanda was already an empire. When innocents were being burned at the stakes, Wakanda was already a center of knowledge and science and culture. When the bow and arrow was the pinnacle of military technology, Wakanda already had weapons capable of wiping out entire armies from miles away." Azzuri looked at all of them. "And if we were attacked by some nation trying to take our land from us, we would defend ourselves. So no, Howard Stark, you were not a threat to Wakanda, you were a threat to the people who would try to invade us if the secret of what we really are got out."

Bold words, but Diana believed them. Everyone believed them. King Azzuri told them in no uncertain terms what would happen if they betrayed his trust and by the seriousness on everybody's faces – including Howard's – they all understood. The Secret decreed by Bast protected Wakanda's way of life, yes, but it also protected the whole world from Wakanda's retribution.

If Man's World decided to attack – and Diana had seen enough to know they would, if the prize was big enough – the land of the panther would retaliate and the body count would be massive.

"Your secret will be safe with us, King Azzuri," Steve promised, looking at Howard when he said this. "You have my word."

The scientist, for once without a sarcastic commentary, nodded in agreement.

"I am relieved to hear that, Captain Rogers." He turned to Howard and gestured towards the table, restoring Wakanda's hologram. "Apologies for the interruption, Mr. Stark."

"Howard," he corrected the king after a few long seconds; it seemed he finally let go of his grudge, Diana noticed. "You can call me Howard. Especially you," Howard added, winking to Aneka, who simply glared back twice as hard. "Now, as I was saying, Erskine and I chose to go through the forest, but there was another way too, which is the way we arrived here now: the plains. Needless to say, they are extremely hard to sneak through, but an army would have a lot more success if they marched through there."

King Azzuri glanced to Aneka, as if Howard had confirmed their theories.

"What can you tell us about HYDRA's forces?" Aneka asked.

"Energy rifles that can vaporize a man in one shot, sturdy armors, advanced vehicles, enhanced soldiers…" Howard started. "That's if we are lucky. If we aren't, then HYDRA managed to build another Sleipnir tank and another Mjölnir cannon."

As Howard spoke, the hologram took the form of the fearsome tank they had destroyed in Lublin.

"Would this be the tank?" Azzuri asked.

They all nodded in silence, surprised.

"How did you know?" Peggy asked.

Azzuri smiled. "You are not the only one with an extensive intelligence network, Agent Carter."

"That's the one," Steve said, looking in the King's eyes. "The city destroyer."

"If they actually have one and that thing manages to fire…" Howard said, sighing. "No more Golden City."

"We will not allow that to happen!" Diana promised.

"I appreciate the devotion, Princess Diana, but we might have a solution against the city destroyer cannon."

"Which is?" Howard asked.

"I think it is best if I show you," Azzuri announced, turning the hologram off and moving towards the door.

Stunned, they followed him.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 12** **th** **, 2010**

"What exactly are you looking for, Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked, huffing, barely hiding her frustration after god knows how many trips to the basement and back carrying boxes.

Tony ignored her for a second, putting the box he was holding down and opening it without ceremony, only to groan in disappointment; another box full of his father's old films, from when he had the brilliant idea to invest in cinema.

"I'm not entirely sure, Pepper," Tony admitted, but he knew what he _wasn't_ looking for and those film rolls weren't it.

"Please tell me you didn't do this just because!" Pepper exclaimed, drying her sweat, not bothering anymore to fix her disheveled hair.

"Oh, no, I have a good reason," Tony said, distracted, as he opened another box. "I'm trying to find some stuff from my father."

"What 'stuff'?"

"I don't know, journals? Letters? I'll know when I see it." He glanced at her, just in time to catch her incredible glare. "You know what, why don't you take the rest of the day off? Go out, have some fun, buy something nice, my treat. Happy will take you," Tony added, pointing at his bodyguard, who was just entering the room carrying three boxes piled on top of each other. He too was sweating profusely. "You look tired, Happy. Thought an accomplished boxer such as you didn't even sweat."

"This? This is nothing, sir, I'm barely tired," Happy answered, huffing between the words. "Those were the last ones down there," he said, pointing at boxes he put down, "but I would be more than fine to do all this again."

"That's good, because we have to clear the second basement too," Tony commented. Happy froze completely for a few seconds, only the drops of sweat on his face falling down; Tony chuckled. "I'm just screwing with you, we're done. Take the rest of the day off too, Happy. Bye."

Pepper, even tired as she was, still tried to stay behind to help, but Tony preferred privacy as he looked through his father's stuff. Sure, things between him and his dearly departed dad weren't as bad as they used to be, not since he read the letters that mysterious woman gave him, but his relationship with Howard Stark would always be a difficult one. And, of course, he wasn't exactly comfortable sharing the reason why he was looking through his father's stuff.

Someone – he was almost certain that "someone" was his father – went through a lot of work to hide the existence of this Wonder Woman and until he knew exactly why that happened, he would thread carefully.

Truth was, Tony had no idea with what he was dealing with. Godkiller, Wonder Woman, whatever she wanted to call herself, _was_ dangerous. An entire terrorist organization, an organization that had no qualms about kidnapping him, was scared shitless of her. Intelligence organizations all over the world were afraid too, as were all the criminals she crossed path with – the ones that survived, at least.

And yet, she saved him. Or at least he was almost certain she did. Tony wanted to know why. He wanted to look in her eyes and ask her. Did she have a debt to his father? Was it a coincidence? Did she want something in return from him, a favor of some kind?

Why did someone like her thought the life of someone like him was worth saving?

Questions and more questions popped up inside his head and he wanted some answers. First, though, he needed to know who she was. Breathing deeply, Tony opened box number three; one hundred and seven or so to go.

* * *

 **Wakanda – April 15** **th** **, 1944**

"Activate the barrier," King Azzuri ordered, speaking on the small communicator placed on his wrist.

Diana, Steve, Howard and Peggy didn't understand what he meant by that for a moment, waiting for something to happen. They had just exited Azzuri's aircraft, landing a few kilometers away from the Golden City, on an empty plain. Far on the horizon they could see the edge of a forest and beyond that a wall of mountains, their peaks white with snow. As soon as they could see what Azzuri ordered, though, none of them were looking at the beautiful view anymore.

They were staring at the blue energy barrier closing around the Golden City, like an immense cerulean dome.

Now, this was surprising, Diana admitted, her eyes fixed on the closing dome. Amazing even. A protective barrier around the city, of the likes she had only encountered on Themyscira and never in such proportions. It wasn't like the barrier that hid her homeland and not like the camouflage that covered the Golden City; this was a wall of fire and challenging it promised pain and death.

"Oh my god…" Peggy exclaimed.

"Impossible!" Howard repeated, maybe for the thousandth time.

Steve, like Diana, remained in shocked silence, just waiting for the barrier to touch the ground a few meters in front of them.

"This is what I wanted to show you," King Azzuri said, making them look at him. He turned to Aneka. "Aneka, do you mind?"

With a small nod, Aneka grabbed her vibranium spear and pointed it at the barrier. With a small twitch of her fingers, the spear glowed blue and fired an energy blast, surprising them. But what truly surprised them wasn't the fact that the spear worked as a projectile weapon as well, but the fact that the barrier simply blocked the shot, completely, the blue surface barely reacting to a blast of energy that could, most likely, destroy an entire tank.

"How powerful is this barrier?" Diana asked, fascinated, approaching the barrier with a curious expression and a raised hand.

Steve, almost by reflex, caught her arm before she could touch it.

"Strong enough to sustain any kind of attack without suffering any damage," Azzuri answered. "The barrier destroys any object, any energy blast. It was never breached."

Howard, as if testing Azzuri's words, grabbed a pen from his pocket and tossed at the barrier; the golden pen was simply vaporized, which gave them a pretty good idea of what would happen if a person touched it. Or bombs, bullets and even whole tanks for that matter.

"Incredible… Is it made of vibranium?" Howard asked, excitedly, looking at Azzuri.

The King raised a single eyebrow. "Good guess. I cannot explain exactly how it works, you would have to talk to the head of the Science Division for that, but the barrier it composed by vibranium particles, molded in that shape by a magnetic field, and then charged with a continuous, and powerful, flow of energy." Azzuri got closer to the barrier. "The vibranium particles keep the energy flowing constantly, without loss, and thus the 'energy wall' is created."

"Like a closed circuit," Howard mumbled to himself, whatever that meant. "And you think this will protect the city against a Mjölnir cannon?"

"That I do not know," Azzuri admitted. "This barrier was never tested against such power." He looked at Howard. "That is why I must ask you a favor. You studied HYDRA's weaponry, their energy source, even the parts of the Mjölnir cannon you managed to destroy. You are the expert here. I would like you to work with the head of the Science Division to protect the city during the invasion."

Howard's eyes glowed when Azzuri said that, but he remained contained. "You would trust me in Wakanda's lab?"

Azzuri tilted his head slightly. "And why would I not? You are here, much like the Howling Commandos, risking your life for my country. You are fighting this war longer than I. You possess the knowledge necessary to help us. And you do not strike me as someone who would steal our technology, even if by a matter of pride."

"What does that mean?" Howard asked.

"I mean that you would rather develop your own technology, make it even better than mine, rather than steal from Wakanda."

Howard shrugged. "Well, you're not wrong."

Diana, Steve and Peggy rolled their eyes. Azzuri looked at Steve and Peggy.

"Captain Rogers and Agent Carter, I would like you to gather the Howling Commandos and go with Aneka. I know how legendary your unity is, what they already accomplished, but our forces have never battled side by side with outsiders. It would be better if we could find a way to work together before HYDRA arrives."

"I was about to suggest it," Steve agreed, nodding. He looked at Aneka. "I'm sure we have a lot to learn with each other."

The Dora Milaje simply nodded; it was clear to everyone that she didn't exactly agree with the notion that they had anything to learn from the Howling Commandos, but at least it seemed she respected Steve enough to go with it.

King Azzuri turned to Diana.

"And you, Lady Diana… I would like to show you something. The 'City of the Dead'. It is where Bast and Sekhmet's temples are and it would be an honor to visit them with you."

Diana nodded immediately, not only because it would be an honor to visit the Necropolis, but because if Ares wanted to bring Sekhmet into this world, what better place to do it than her temple? Something told her that Bast had something to do with this invitation.

"We aren't invited for that?" Howard dared to ask.

King Azzuri shook his head. "The City of the Dead is meant only to be seen by believers. Lady Diana is the only one here that qualifies."

No one there had an argument against that.

* * *

Bucky grinned as he watched James Howlett and the commander of the Border Tribe facing each other; James, though extremely muscled, wasn't the tallest of men and the Wakandan, N'Tomo he remembered, was pretty much the biggest man he had ever seen. If he stood still long enough, Bucky was sure it would look like as if James was preparing himself to climb a small mountain.

He thought about cracking that joke to Dugan, but quickly reconsidered; the last thing he needed was James pissed at him.

"You sure we should be doing this?" Dugan asked, smoking his cigar; only chance he got these last days, with Peggy and Diana away, so he was enjoying while he could.

"Doing what? Organizing a fist fight or betting on it?"

"All of the above."

"Relax, it's just a bit of fun, that's all. No one is getting hurt here, their hands are wrapped with cloth."

A little bit after Steve, Diana, Peggy and Stark were taken to see the King, the Dora Milaje, Ayo, went back to gather the rest of them. Something about training, learning to fight side by side with the Wakandan forces, Bucky didn't know, but very few were actually pleased by that, Howling Commandos and Wakandans both.

They were on the same side and he was certain any one of them would fight and die for their companions, but that didn't mean they appreciated being told they had to learn something. Not when all of them there had already proved themselves.

So things got a little weird, of course. When they arrived at the training grounds, a large plain at the side of the city, all they did was stare at each other. Howling Commandos and Wakandans, each on their side of the imaginary border, simply evaluating themselves, waiting for the King to appear to actually do something.

That's when Bucky had his brilliant idea to break the ice: a fist fight challenge.

No one would die, no one would get too messed up and a little bit of action would make any "shyness" go away pretty quick. They could be from different places, speak different languages, but warriors were always able to bond with a little bit cussing, blood and gamble. It was universal.

That was why James and N'Tomo were now inside a large circle formed by the Howling Commandos and the Wakandans, shirts off and fists up, ready to start bonding.

"Your man is going to be severely hurt," Ayo, mentioned from Bucky's opposite side. "I am sure N'Tomo will not kill him, but if you cannot see the size difference than you are a greater fool than I thought."

"Care to bet on that?" Bucky challenged her, grinning.

She wasn't lying, N'Tomo was a _huge_ bastard, with muscles that seemed to be carved in stone, but he had seen James fighting bigger. After all, huge or not, N'Tomo was still human and Bucky saw James dropping one of those blue abominations without a shred of fear. Granted, he couldn't use his bone claws or a grenade here, but N'Tomo couldn't heal himself instantly, so it would be sort of a fair fight.

"Dora Milaje do not 'bet'," Ayo stated, standing straight. "It is beneath us."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "It's just a game, I'm not asking you to gamble your life savings." He looked at her, adding in a low voice: "It's good for morale. For bonding purposes."

She raised a single eyebrow. "Watching N'Tomo crush your little man will bond our soldiers? Sounds to me it will work the other way around."

"If you are so certain he'll win, then what's the problem with a little bit of fun? Come on, it doesn't have to be much. Ten bucks on James."

"Your currency has no value to me and mine would make you a king," Ayo said, fishing a single coin from her pocket; a vibranium coin, Bucky realized, his eyes going wide. "You have nothing I need."

"It doesn't have to be money! I have nothing you need, but do I have something you want?"

For a moment, Ayo didn't answer and Bucky thought the conversation was over. Then he noticed she was hesitating.

"Your gun," she admitted, nodding towards his holstered pistol. "I always liked antiques."

Bucky and Dugan were surprised for a moment. He drew his pistol, carefully taking out the bullets.

"This is not an antique," Bucky said, confused. "It's top of the line. It's a Colt M1911, the standard sidearm of all American forces."

Ayo rolled her eyes. "The last time Wakanda ever used gun-powder was during… I think it would be year 257 AD on your calendar. It was already considered primitive back then."

"Huh… How about that?" Bucky exhaled, shocked, glancing at Dugan for a moment, who also had his eyes widened. "Alright, you want my Colt, that's fine."

"And what do you want?" Ayo asked.

Bucky was about to say he wanted her spear, but he knew with absolute certainty that she would never bet that. Not only it was made of vibranium, with a lot of other technological stuff imbued into it, it was a ceremonial weapon. So far, every Dora Milaje he saw had a spear just like that, it had to be the mark of their group. He guessed she would rather bet her own arm than that spear, so he didn't even dare to ask.

The rest of her equipment was also made of vibranium, from the rings around her arms and neck, to the details on her clothing. Sure, those things might not be worth much to her, not here in "vibranium-land", but Bucky also doubted they wanted that damn metal running freely out there; by the looks they gave Steve's shield, tolerating that was already a stretch.

What to ask, then? Looking at her face he saw Ayo was coming to the same conclusion, she had nothing to offer him, nothing she could give freely, at least. Except…

"How about a kiss?" Bucky asked.

Ayo, Dugan, Erik, half the Wakandans, the Howling Commandos and even James turned to look at him when he said that, baffled; Bucky grinned, noticing the faint blush on Ayo's cheeks. It made her even cuter. He would admit that the shaved head took a little time for him to get used to, but once he did, he could see just how beautiful she was and Bucky liked pretty girls.

"If you're that certain you'll win, what's the harm?" he provoked.

For a moment there, he really thought she would punch him. It was a close thing, he could see by her twitching fingers. But then, like the professional warrior she was, Ayo hid her emotions behind an inexpressive face.

"As you wish, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes," Ayo said, not looking at him.

No, she was looking directly at N'Tomo and her eyes promised pain if he somehow lost. Bucky couldn't help but to laugh when he noticed that the mountain of a man winced under her glare.

* * *

James inhaled deeply, gathering all the smells around him. It still hadn't dawned on him how clean the air in Wakanda was, without the thick smog ever-present in London and the unpleasant smells of sewage, too many people, cars, factories… Here, even back in the Golden City, the air carried mostly the smells of the trees.

It was damn nice, but he wasn't focusing on that now; no, he was smelling his adversary.

The faint smell of soap, something made of herbs and fruit – oddly girly to a man who looked fiercer than a bear –, sweat, dirt under his sandals, old bloody stains on his clothes, already long dry and not visible to the naked eye, but still present, the metallic smell of his vibranium jewelry, spots on his skin where he touched other people, with different smells … And under all that, the flow of adrenalin, the very body preparing itself for combat, releasing chemicals James couldn't even name, but knew by heart.

The smells of a fight.

Funny how that was. James fought all over the world, in all kinds of different wars, since the last century. But the smells, they never changed, not even here in this weird advanced land. Men were men. And there was no better way to understand one another than to exchange a few punches.

It was easy to anybody who had eyes to see that the Wakandans didn't trust them. Didn't think they were necessary, at all. James could understand that. No one liked to be told they couldn't protect their home, that they needed help to do what they already have been doing for thousands of years. Liking it or not, though, they would have to live with it. Wakanda was not a democracy and their king had spoken.

So they would have to learn to work together. Thus, the "bonding exercise".

"Sure you want to do this?" N'Tomo asked, staring at him like a statue.

James simply stared back, raising his fists. Big man, no doubt skilled and experienced, but he wasn't worried at all. If size was everything, James would never have lived to tell how he fought bears with his bare hands. Of course, healing instantly helped, so did his sharp claws, but N'Tomo wasn't exactly a bear, even if they had similar size.

"Let's do this, bub," James snarled.

They both advanced. N'Tomo was built like a mountain of muscles, but when he attacked, he moved _fast_ ; James was still faster. Dodging the first three punches, James approached, trying to breach his defenses. It was hard, especially since N'Tomo had long arms, but James simply advanced, ignoring the punches against his head, and unleashed a barrage of attacks against the Wakandan.

He heard N'Tomo grunting, but it was like hitting a wall. And then he punched back.

James had suffered incredible injuries during his life, including being hit in the chest by a literal cannonball. So he could say, with authority, that N'Tomo's punch wasn't far behind. The punch hit his forehead and the only reason he wasn't knocked out was because of his healing factor. Every Wakandan watching the fight expected him to go down, including N'Tomo. So James used this to his advantage.

Roaring, James attacked again, using the fury to fuel his strength, hitting N'Tomo's face three times. The giant retreated a few steps, dizzy, raising his guard to defend himself, but he realized James wouldn't stop, not unless he did something.

Using his bigger size, tanking the punches for a few seconds, N'Tomo launched himself over James. The guy was heavy, _very_ heavy, and he used every bit of his weight to topple James; before he knew it, N'Tomo's arms were around his throat and he was held down in a chokehold of which he couldn't get out.

This was bad, James thought, gasping for air. If he didn't do something, soon he would be knocked out.

"Yield!" N'Tomo grunted in his ear, but James just ignored him.

The crowd was yelling like a bunch of madmen, each person cheering for their chosen fighter. The noise began to mesh together and his vision began to blur as the oxygen in his brain ran out. He and N'Tomo were fallen on the dirt, James kicking the ground to try to get away, as the Wakandan used all his strength to pull him back. He needed to try something, anything…

His claws!

Barely thinking anymore, James released a single claw from his right hand; there was a moment of silence, where everybody looked confused; then James used it to pierce his own wrist, the bone slashing James' own artery in a single stroke.

And just like his desperate mind planned, the blood flew from his wrist, right inside N'Tomo's eyes.

The Wakandan groaned and closed his eyes, surprised and blind for the moment; it was all James needed. Using all his strength, he released himself form the chokehold and used his elbow to strike N'Tomo's face. And as soon as he was free, he turned around, vision still blurred, and punched the Wakandan right in the tip of the chin, so strongly that he felt his own hand break.

And then, even with his knuckles cracked, he punched again and again and again, until N'Tomo fell.

There was complete and absolute silence around him. James closed his eyes for a second and breathed deeply, glad that his healing factor had already healed the contusions around his throat, as he felt the bones in his hand mending. That's when he heard a roar and the apparently knocked out Wakandan tried to get up.

James punched him again, his hand breaking one more time. And when N'Tomo tried to raise one more time, barely conscious, he unleashed his claws, touching his neck.

"Yield," he snarled. "Or I'll have to hit you again until your skull is broken and I don't want to do that."

The Wakandan froze for a moment, no doubt feeling the imminent death of the tips of his claws. Then he nodded.

James retreated his claws and offered a hand to help N'Tomo to get up; he hesitated, but grabbed it, so James could pull him up. And suddenly, everybody began to cheer, Howling Commandos and Wakandans alike.

"Good fight," James muttered, amongst the noise.

N'Tomo nodded, still looking at his hand; at his hidden claws, he realized. "You did not use them against me."

"No point in doing that if I don't want to kill you."

"True," he agreed, looking at his face and then at his hands again. "Your wounds… They are gone."

"And you have the size of a small mountain. We all have our gifts."

The Wakandan chuckled. "Here I thought it would be an easy fight." He glanced at James' hidden claws again. "Imagine if they were vibranium."

James opened his mouth to answer, but before he could a powerful voice yelled:

"What is going on here?!"

He sighed. Captain Rogers, Agent Carter and that Dora Milaje commander had arrived and they were not happy.

* * *

Steve didn't really know what happened there, but he knew it was, somehow, their fault. Most likely Bucky's. And of course, that man, James Howlett, had to be involved, why wouldn't he? They weren't gone for more than two hours and his men were already up to something.

A circle of cheering people, a big Wakandan with blood and bruises all over his face, James Howlett standing by his side – not hurt, but in his case that didn't mean anything –, money and objects being exchanged between people… A fist fight, no doubt.

Aneka was glaring at him.

"I'll solve this, don't worry," Steve guaranteed, already searching for Bucky in the crowd.

It took him a couple of seconds to find him; him and the Dora Milaje, Ayo.

"Oh, no, Bucky, no…"

Neither Peggy nor Aneka understood his plight, not until the whistling and the laughter began and they could focus on what was happening.

Steve could swear Aneka's glare was starting to burn a hole on him, when he dashed in Bucky's direction to solve this.

* * *

The City of the Dead, Wakanda's sacred Necropolis, was an ancient place carved in stone, raised in the middle of a forest when Bast and Sekhmet still walked the Earth. It was guarded by huge and old trees, an almost impenetrable mist and, if Diana's senses weren't playing a trick on her, pure divine magic, of the likes she only felt back on Themyscira.

Diana felt a tingle on her skin as they advanced through the mist, going up the stairs of stone. It wasn't unpleasant, it did not hurt her, but it made her wonder how powerful and how imbued the magic was in that place.

King Azzuri guided her through the silent city, walking upon an old stairwell, passing through columns carved in stone, some broken, some completely collapsed. The mist was so dense that even Diana was having trouble seeing too far, but there was the unmistakable glow of fire in the distance.

"Every single fallen Wakandan rests inside this city," Azzuri said, respectfully, his voice echoing between the trees. "We believe that upon death, they reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet lead them into the green veld, where they can run forever."

"A good afterlife," Diana answered after a few seconds, imagining that the green veld would not be much different than the Elysium Fields, where her aunt rested.

Azzuri smiled. "I think so too."

After walking for minutes, they finally arrived at the entrance to the Necropolis, a gigantic opening in a stone wall, with two statues on each side: an immense panther and a huge cheetah. Azzuri bowed slightly in respect and entered; Diana did the same, studying the statue of the panther for a moment, then she followed him.

The inside was illuminated by torches and lanterns and looked like the interior of a cave, barely decorated; it was, Diana reminded herself, a city for the dead, not for the living. Azzuri walked the path as if he had already done so several times, going through the maze-like corridors, until Diana started to hear the first sounds since they arrived. Footsteps and a single voice.

When they arrived at the main room, though, that Diana was so impressed that she even forgot about the voice.

The room was not different than the rest, still the inside of a cave, but it was better illuminated. What attracted her eyes immediately, however, was in the middle: a garden of glowing purple flowers, flowers that she had never seen before, but that seemed to exude power.

The Heart-Shaped Herb.

"This was Bast's blessing to us," Azzuri said, stopping in front of the garden. "The strength that flows in the veins of the Black Panthers, so we can protect Wakanda."

"They are beautiful," Diana whispered, smelling one; it was sweet and unlike any other flower she smelled before.

"And rare," the King explained, kneeling besides Diana. "They can only grow here, inside the City of the Dead. We tried to grow them elsewhere, but they refuse to bloom. It is only here, amongst the souls of our people, that the Heart-Shaped Herb can survive. Nobody knows why that is, but I believe that their power comes from the spirits of the Wakandans." He looked up, to an approaching man; he smiled. "And the good care of our shaman, of course."

Diana looked up when Azzuri said that, finally noticing they were not alone in the room. The shaman, or so Azzuri said it, was old, almost blind, with grey hair and beard and a wrinkled face – things that still fascinated Diana a little bit, since she never saw them on Themyscira –, but he still possessed the strength to walk like a young man. He was clearly strong under those purple robes of his, probably a warrior at some point of his life, and his expression showed nothing but kindness and respect for his King.

"Glory to Bast, my King," he said, his voice raspy, speaking not in English, but in Wakandan. "Here to visit an old friend?"

"Visiting you is just a fortunate coincidence today, my friend," Azzuri said, getting up and going to him, still speaking in Wakandan. They hugged and then the King pointed at Diana. "I would like to introduce you to Princess Diana of Themyscira. Diana, this is Zawavari, the shaman responsible for the care of the Heart-Shaped Herbs and the keeper of our history."

"It is an honor, Zawavari," Diana answered in perfect Wakandan.

For an entire minute, Zawavari was in complete silence, frozen in place. His expression was one of pure shock and Diana and Azzuri were beginning to get worried for the elderly man, when he suddenly bowed. But it wasn't just a simple bow, it was a series of movements so complex that Diana though he was dancing for a moment.

She could only stare, flabbergasted, not certain of what she should say or do.

"Lady Diana, it is such an honor!" Zawavari finally said, finishing his over-complicated greeting gesture with a single clap over his head. "I am truly a lucky man to have gazed upon you at least once."

Again, Diana did not know what to say.

"Um, thank you," Diana answered, hesitantly.

"Forgive me, but to be in the present of such a magnificent being is–"

"My friend, you are scaring my guest," Azzuri joked nervously, then added: "And me, a little bit."

"Azzuri, you should have told me we were welcoming a–"

"A Princess, yes, I should have!" Azzuri interrupted again, a little harsh in her opinion. "But we have something to do, my friend, and we are pressed for time."

"Something you need my help with?" the shaman asked.

"We are going to the temple of Sekhmet," Diana explained, getting up.

"I would be honored to guide you, Lady Diana," Zawavari said, bowing again, but this time normally.

Diana smiled. What a well-mannered, but peculiar man!

* * *

Azzuri wanted to smack his old friend, but he managed to contain himself. Not because Zawavari was old – the shaman, even blind and elderly, still had the strength of a bull –, but because if he did so, Diana would be even more suspicious.

He should not have told him about his dream, about Bast's warning and even less about Diana's coming. Azzuri should have known that Zawavari, such a devout man, would react like this in the presence of a demigoddess; Diana was the first – and would most likely be the only – deity he would ever see with his own eyes, after all.

It mattered little to him that Diana was not a full goddess, as it shouldn't. Azzuri still remembered Zawavari's old lessons well enough to know that the fact that Diana was called a demigoddess was simply a way to track her lineage and not a testament to what she could do; to use her family as an example, Herakles, even being a demigod, was famous in his time for challenging – and soundly beating – every manner of entity, from monsters, giants and dragons to full-fledged Olympians.

Goddess or demigoddess, Diana was the last daughter of Zeus, blessed by the Olympians and destined to slay the God of War; Azzuri should have known better than to think that Zawavari would be able to contain his excitement.

"If I may ask," Zawavari started, looking at Diana while he guided them, "which god or goddess do the Amazons worship, Lady Diana?"

Azzuri could not help but to notice that Zawavari was still speaking in Wakandan and Diana was having no trouble understanding him; handy gift that one.

"Well, it depends, really. We prayed to and respected every Olympian," Diana answered, as if she was born in Wakanda and spoke the language her whole life. "My mother had a great respect for Zeus," more than 'great', Azzuri thought, "but she worshipped Hera her whole life. Some say she was even Hera's favorite, her champion. My aunt Antiope, however, worshipped Athena above all. The goddess of wisdom and war, two things my aunt respected a lot. My other aunt, Menalippe, was a huntress, the best one I have ever seen. And as such, she prayed to Artemis." Diana shrugged. "Much like the gods and goddesses favored certain mortals, we all had our favorite deities."

"Which one was yours?" Azzuri asked, curious.

Diana smiled. "I always liked Zeus more than anyone else. Though my mother insisted that I worshipped Hera too, which I always did, of course."

If Hera's jealousy was anything like the stories told, then it might be a reasonable thing to do, Azzuri thought, especially when Diana was a daughter Zeus had outside his marriage.

"Does the fact that Ares killed the Olympians affect your faith, Lady Diana?" Zawavari asked, his voice incredibly respectful.

She took a while to answer, as they moved through the dark corridors, but then she opened her mouth:

"Let me answer your question with another one: do you believe death is the end?"

"I do not," Zawavari answered immediately. There really wasn't any other way he could answer, not when he lived in the City of the Dead, surrounded by the souls of his fallen Wakandans. "Wakandans believe that death is more like a stepping-off point, rather than the end of the journey."

"So do I," Diana said. "And if I believe that mortal's souls can outlive their time in this world, would it be so outlandish to believe that the soul of a god could do the same?" She looked at the shaman. "The Olympians might not be physically here anymore, but I can still feel their presence when I pray, when I ask for guidance and in everything else I do. So no, their deaths did not affect my faith at all."

Zawavari bowed his head once again, no doubt taking the goddess' teaching to heart. It was not everyday a deity spoke quite like that to a mortal.

"That is a very wise way to look at this, Lady Diana," Zawavari finally said.

She smiled, very pleased. "I am glad you think so."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, all of them pondering what they talked about. After a few minutes, Zawavari stopped in front of a huge door, made entirely of vibranium; and with a word of respect to the skies, he opened it.

Sekhmet's temple was big, illuminated with braziers and it probably had more treasures inside it than every single Egyptian pyramid ever built. Several statues as tall as the very high ceiling, depicting Sekhmet in all her glory, were around the room, both in her Cheetah form and in her hybrid one, with a humanoid body and a feline head. Weapons, armors, coins… A full treasure forged with vibranium, far more valuable than any gold or precious stones, was resting inside it. Drawings on the walls, both in Wakandan runes and Egyptian hieroglyphics, showed the goddess fighting in countless wars.

Wakanda had a curious relationship with Sekhmet. They respected her as much as they respected Bast, but the Cheetah Goddess had not been as present in their history after her battle with the Panther Goddess; not by her choice, of course, but it was undeniable that Bast had influenced Wakanda far more than Sekhmet, starting from her imposed "one rule" of absolute secrecy.

Some in Wakanda believed Sekhmet was right all along, that they should have showed the world Wakanda's strength, but they were the vast minority. Most people simply revered her as a goddess that helped built Wakanda and protect them and they chose not to involve themselves in the sisters' infighting.

A wise choice, in Azzuri's opinion, because mortals rarely gained anything when they tried to meddle in divine affairs.

"It is beautiful!" Diana finally said, still watching wide eyed. She turned to stare at the biggest statue there, Sekhmet in Cheetah form, made entirely of vibranium; her teeth alone were probably bigger than Diana's arm, Azzuri noticed, and if Bast's size in his dreams meant anything, that was Sekhmet's true size. "It reminds me of the temples we have on Themyscira."

"Our way of honoring one of the goddesses that helped create our homeland," Zawavari said, bowing in front of the main statue. "Sekhmet's tale is a great one, but sad. She, alongside Bast, guided Wakanda to greatness. But her vision for Wakanda was bloody and warlike and we could not follow her."

Diana was listening to the old shaman, while watching the drawings on the walls.

"Who are those?" she asked, staring at the drawing of Bast and Sekhmet leading the Wakandans against an army composed by creatures that seemed half-man, half-beast.

"We call them 'Originators'," Zawavari answered, after a few seconds trying to see what Diana meant; Azzuri truly needed to drag him to a doctor and fix those eyes. "They were the first inhabitants of these lands, here even before men or Bast and Sekhmet. Not humans, as you can see, but something else, something ancient."

"What happened?" Diana asked.

"Sekhmet happened," Azzuri told her. "The Originators did not want to coexist. They attacked us, tried to destroy Wakanda, despite our best efforts to achieve peace. And they nearly wiped us out. So Sekhmet and Bast led us against them and we fought such a war that none of them were left. It was, by far, the biggest conflict we ever took part and the war lasted years. In the end, by the grace of Bast and Sekhmet, the Originators were banished from our realm by the two 'Eyes of Ra', our goddesses, and Wakanda was safe. This was the first of many times Sekhmet fought and bled for us."

Zawavari looked at the Cheetah statue again.

"The Cheetah Goddess protected Wakanda with everything she had, against any and all opponents. She was the very embodiment of the sacred metal our land was built upon: beautiful, protective and deadly. It saddens me that it had to come to that," he whispered. "That we had to choose between Bast and Sekhmet, that two sisters that loved each other _so much_ had to fight."

Diana walked to the vibranium statue, staring in its eyes.

"And now Ares wants to use this against Wakanda," she said, frowning. "I will not let him."

Azzuri looked at her. "Bast appeared in my dreams. It was the first time I saw her since I ate the Heart-Shaped Herb. She talked to me, warned me and told me she was sending help. The next day, you appeared. Bast guided you to us, Diana, and we will stop Ares invasion together."

She turned and met his eyes, nodding.

"You have my word, King Azzuri."

He smiled, then opened his arms. "I do not know how Ares plans to bring Sekhmet into this world, but according to Bast, if he wants to drag her from Heliopolis to here, Ares will need to be in a place where he can 'sense Sekhmet's energy'. This temple has to be it."

"I agree," she said. "Even I can sense divine magic here. This temple would be perfect for this."

"We cannot allow HYDRA's forces to reach this City," Azzuri said, serious. "Not only because they would corrupt the graves of our ancestors, but because they would corrupt our very goddess." He looked at Zawavari. "My friend, you have guarded this Necropolis for most of your life. I ask you to guard it during this invasion as well. If anything happens, if anything goes through us, I want you to warn us, so we can defend this place."

"It would be my pleasure, my King," Zawavari answered, somber, bowing his head.

And if they failed, Azzuri knew Zawavari would do what needed to be done: he would destroy the City of the Dead and keep the Heart-Shaped Herb away from their enemies.

Azzuri prayed to Bast – and Sekhmet – so things would not get that far. It would be the end of Wakanda.

* * *

Steve looked around the room, seeing his friends and the Wakandans sitting at the long table together, dining. Everyone was wearing Wakandan clothes, so fresh and soft compared to the uniforms they always wore, and everyone was clean again, bathing after their military exercise. It went without saying that everyone was eating like starved soldiers, even though they had eaten quite a lot during lunch.

King Azzuri, Queen Nanali and their two sons were also at the table, by his side, talking with other Wakandans, leaders of the Tribes, if Steve was remembering correctly. All properly dazzled and very much interested in whatever Diana was saying, he noticed. Not that she was that engaged in the conversation, Steve realized, far more interested in playing with the King's children and Erik than listening to them.

"I heard you had a busy day, Captain," King Azzuri said, surprising him, leaning closer so they could talk even with all the noise. The King smiled. "Something about a fist fight and a kiss?" Steve opened his mouth immediately to apologize, but Azzuri just laughed. "It has been a while since I've seen Aneka that incensed."

Steve shook his head slowly. "Bucky is… He is one of a kind."

"Your childhood friend, right?" Azzuri asked and he nodded. "I agree. But whatever he did, it worked. Look at them."

Doing as he asked, Steve looked and saw what he already knew: Howling Commandos and Wakandans talking and joking together, sharing food and drink, treating each other like old companions. Which was a very impressive thing, considering how frosty their reception had been with the local soldiers.

Even Howard, that went from stunned, to impressed, to angry and then cooperative, was having a nice conversation with a Wakandan scientist.

"This is not something I've seen before," Azzuri said, watching them. "And sometimes I think I should have."

"What do you mean, your Majes– Azzuri?"

"What I said about keeping the Secret… I believe in it," the King explained. "We hide what Wakanda truly is for a very good reason. But I think we somehow misunderstood the will of our Goddess and of our forefathers, Captain Rogers. We have closed Wakanda from the world. We watched as evil men killed and captured innocents, as people starved and died from diseases we have long developed cures and we did nothing, all in the name of our Secret." He turned his eyes from the Howling Commandos and glanced at Diana. "And then I see her."

He smiled at Steve.

"Themyscira is also closed to the world and yet, here she is, helping. Fighting to help those who cannot help themselves, putting her life in danger by doing so, doing everything she can simply because _she can_." He stopped, closing his eyes for a second. "Maybe Wakanda should learn something from her."

Steve glanced at Diana too, his lips turning into a smile. She noticed and answered with a big smile that made his heart beat faster.

"She is one of a kind too," Steve whispered, smiling like a fool.

"She is," Azzuri agreed, "but so are you, Steve Rogers." He pointed at his shield, carefully laid against his chair. "I look at you and I see what the Black Panthers could have been, if we had allowed ourselves to do more. Not only for Wakanda, but for the rest of the world."

Steve controlled himself not to blush, but he was very embarrassed.

"I'm just a soldier trying to do the right thing," he said.

"You are a good man doing the right thing," Azzuri corrected. "Against super-soldiers and evil gods, against all odds… And you are succeeding. Do not sell yourself short, Captain." The King smiled. "A man born to protect, possessing superhuman strength, speed and instincts… And even armed with vibranium. Yes, Captain, you and I are not that different. Except that I chose to do nothing until I was forced to act."

Do nothing or do something… Words to live by, indeed. The King remained in silence for a time, thinking about what he said, then he looked at Steve's shield again.

"May I?" he asked.

Steve grabbed his shield and passed it to the King, who grabbed it with the practiced ease of a trained warrior. He studied it for a few minutes.

"Do you know how you came by this?" Azzuri asked. "Not the shield, the vibranium to make it."

"I, um, I have no idea," Steve answered, honestly. "Howard mentioned something about this being all the vibranium we had. He even thought it was most the vibranium Wakanda had, but that notion died quickly when we got here."

Azzuri chuckled. "No, we still have a little bit left." He gave the shield back to Steve. "Howard Stark was never successful in entering Wakanda, as you well know, so the vibranium that this shield is made of did not come from us. Not directly, at least."

"I don't understand."

"It did come from Wakanda, but it was not stolen from us," Azzuri explained. "This vibranium came from several small pieces we lost during the course of history. An arrow here, a dagger there, a small ring… Until all the pieces finally culminated into a single object: your shield." He looked at Steve. "And you, Captain America, did _all that_ with a single vibranium shield, made from lost trinkets. It makes me wonder what you would accomplish if you had access to an unlimited source of vibranium and advanced technology." Azzuri grinned. "I guess we will see."

Hesitantly, Steve grinned back. The Red Skull didn't know what he was getting into when he planned to invade Wakanda.

* * *

Diana watched Steve and Azzuri talking like old friends and smiled. She knew they would like each other, they had a lot in common. On the other side of the table, the Howling Commandos and James were talking, boisterously, drinking that fermented fruit liquor like it was water. Peggy was having a very heated, but friendly, conversation with the Merchant Tribe Elder, a shrewd lady that seemed to know _a lot_ of what was going on in the world for someone living in a closed off nation. Erik, after she made sure he'd eaten well, was entertaining T'Chaka and N'Jobu with his gift, lifting vibranium cutlery in the air for their amusement; it was nice to see him taking pride in what he could do, instead of fearing it or having to hide it.

"I still cannot believe I lived to see something like this," Queen Nanali said, smiling at Diana. She sighed. "It is a pity that it took a world war to unite us."

"It truly is," Diana agreed, somber, remembering HYDRA's attack on Themyscira. "But at least some good came out of it."

"Lady Diana! Lady Diana!"

Diana turned fast, to see the hyperactive T'Chaka and N'Jobu pulling her sleeves excitedly. She could not contain her smile when she saw their little faces; children were so small! And clumsy, she mentally added, when she saw their clothes covered in spilled food. It made her want to hug them and never let go.

"We made this for you!" T'Chaka exclaimed, as N'Jobu gave her something.

A wooden panther mask. For almost a minute, Diana didn't know what to say, she could only stare at the mask, Bast's mask, so well made and incredibly similar to Azzuri's that she was shocked. Diana felt her eyes filling with tears and she didn't know what to say.

"You did this for me?" she asked, touched.

"Mom helped," N'Jobu admitted and Diana turned to look at the smiling Queen; Diana would bet that it would be more accurate to say that Nanali carved the mask and the kids helped, but that didn't make the gesture any less tender.

Moving fast, she grabbed both kids and pulled them over her lap, hugging them.

"Thank you so much!" They hugged her back and she glanced at Nanali, smiling brightly. "Thank you too, Nanali."

Little by little, Diana was falling in love with Wakanda.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 12** **th** **, 2010**

Tony's eyes could barely see anymore. His living room was full of open boxes, his father's stuff was tossed everywhere, there were notebooks and letters opened, pictures scrambled over the floor, books and nonsensical notes left on the sofa and even, surprisingly enough, what seemed to be a full collection of Captain America trading cards and comics; he knew his father loved the guy, but this was just sad.

And absolutely no mention of Wonder Woman or Godkiller anywhere.

What a waste of time! Tony could've been right now solving the "freezing issue" he had with his suit when he tried to fly too high – note to self: look into the alloy that composed satellites – and instead he had pretty much wasted an entire day reading about his dad's stupid notes. Why should he care if his dad had visited some Third World country in Africa during the War?

Tony took a deep breath. Well, he should've expected this, it was always a long shot. If Wonder Woman or Godkiller or whatever she wanted to call herself was successfully avoiding every single intelligence agency in the world, then it would be harder to find her than simply reading his father's stuff. He needed a new plan. But first, he needed to eat something.

Turning the TV on, Tony got up and moved towards the table, trying to grab a slice of his half-eaten pizza; only to lose his balance and hit one of the boxes, sending everything flying against the floor. Notebooks, letters, picture frames… He winced when he heard cracking noises.

Should he go down to the lab, bring his repulsors back up and destroy everything? Tempting, but Pepper would have his head if he ended up damaging the living room too and he knew he would.

So, controlling himself once again, Tony started to collect all the stuff he dropped and tossed them back into the box; that is, until he grabbed one of the broken picture frames and a single pictured fell, apparently stuck between another photo and the back.

Distracted, he put the box down and took the picture, studying it. It was an old photo, black and white, with a messy handwriting on the back: _Howling Commandos, January 31_ _st_ _, Lublin_. Frowning, he turned it; and promptly froze in shock.

Not because that was probably a unique photo of the Howling Commandos, not because Captain America was posing with his shield and uniform, all patriotic.

But because of the woman standing by his side. The woman dressed in some weird – and kinda sexy – armor, with an honest to god sword and a shield.

Because that woman in the photo was, without a doubt, the one he was looking for. Because that was Wonder Woman or Godkiller.

But ultimately Tony froze for one simple reason: he knew that woman. He met her before. Diana Prince, the woman who gave him his father's letters, on the day of his parents' funeral.

It didn't happen often, but Tony Stark found himself without words.

* * *

 **Hey guys, how are you doing? Long time no see, especially to those of you who don't read my other story. Sorry for taking so long to update, I had to spend almost two months in another city, doing some stuff for my job, and I couldn't write as often as I would like.**

 **Then my dog got sick and died and I was too sad to write. Still am, I miss the poor, old bastard so much it hurts, but life goes on…**

 **Anyway, here it is, the new chapter. I hope you guys like it. I hope you're all doing great ^^**


	21. Chapter 21 - Iron and Vibranium

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Author's Note: hey, I don't know if you've heard or not, but Marvel finally announced the official timeline of the MCU, indicating the years the movies happen.**

 **Most fan timelines were pretty much correct, despite the actual errors in the movies (like the one in Spiderman: Homecoming, admitted by Kevin Feige himself, that placed the Spiderman movie 8 years after the first Avengers), but the one I was using placed the first Iron Man movie during 2008, when it actually happened during 2010 according to the official timeline.**

 **So I corrected that.**

 **What changed in the story? Absolutely nothing, except that where was previously written "2008" is now written "2010". The story is still the same, I didn't change a word of it, there was no need.**

 **Anyway, just to avoid any confusion. From now on, the dates are according to the official timeline and Iron Man is happening in 2010.**

* * *

 **Chapter 21 – Iron and Vibranium**

 **Smithsonian's Entrance, Washington, D.C – April 15** **th** **, 2010**

Harold Joseph "Happy" Hogan was used to his boss' shenanigans by now. He worked as Tony Stark's personal chauffer and bodyguard for years, so he pretty much _had_ to be used to his quirks, even though his boss' quirks had quirks. Geniuses were famously weird, weren't they? God knew Howard Stark was, according to some of the things he heard, and his son was even worse.

Still, Happy had to admit that Mr. Stark was being weirder than usual.

Maybe that shouldn't have been so surprising, no one came back from captivity and torture without any aftereffects. He should've expected this. Granted, Happy didn't know exactly what happened there – he doubted anyone other than Mr. Stark knew –, but it sure as hell wasn't anything good.

So maybe he should just try to ignore the strangeness of some of his requests lately. Like, spending an entire day moving boxes out of the basement, for example, for some reason Tony never shared. Or the fact that he barely left his lab anymore, too focused on some new project that he also refused to share – not that staying in the lab for days was unusual before, but Tony always found time to go out and party, something that still hadn't happened since he came back. And, of course, there was the fact that he simply stopped any and all weapon's production in Stark Industries, something Happy – and the whole world – _never_ thought they would live to see.

The latest strange request, however, Happy was fulfilling at the moment; he frowned, looking out of the window of the armored car to see the Smithsonian's entrance.

Sighing, he turned to the security guards sitting with him inside the Stark armored van and nodded. As if they were one, the guards opened the van and secured a perimeter; Happy, still frowning, left behind them, a bulletproof black briefcase firmly held under his arm.

Happy had no idea why he was in Washington, delivering something to the Smithsonian. He had no idea why Mr. Stark sent him personally, with an armored vehicle and armed guards. He had no idea what he was carrying and even less why it was so important. As far as he knew, Mr. Stark never cared about art or archeological findings. Sure, he had paintings, some pretty expensive ones, but they were more of an investment to him than anything else; Pepper was the one who usually enjoyed them. For all intents and purposes, Tony Stark had no business whatsoever in a museum.

And yet, here he was, delivering something apparently extremely important to a woman he didn't know or ever heard about, who operated as curator of the Smithsonian.

Entering the museum, his guards left behind at the entrance, Happy exchanged a few words with a member of the staff and entered the museum, following the man. No, Happy Hogan had no idea what he was doing here, what Tony Stark wanted with a museum curator or even what he was carrying. He didn't really understand what Mr. Stark was going through right now or how the kidnapping had changed him. And he didn't get most of his boss' latest requests.

But as his trusted bodyguard, fully understanding or not what was being asked of him, Happy would complete his task. That was his job, after all, and Happy Hogan was good at his job.

* * *

 **Diana's Office, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C – April 15** **th** **, 2010**

Paperwork was the bane of everyone's lives, mortals or immortals, Diana decided.

She loved her job, loved working in a museum, surrounded by relics of the past, but some aspects of that job were nearly unbearable; and Diana was capable of writing as fast as it was physically possible, without burning a hole into the paper. How could mortals stand this torture with their slug-like movements?

Shaking her head in frustration, Diana dropped her pen and looked around her, trying to find a distraction. Her office in the Smithsonian was a beautiful place, full of artifacts that she had collected herself, proudly displayed on her walls, behind glass windows. Greek shields, ancient swords, samurai armors… Nothing _really_ rare or unique, at least not in the sense that they were relics from gods or past heroes, but all in all they were impressive, specially to the casual visitor.

It was also an excuse to display some of the artifacts she had collected over the years, that would otherwise be collecting dust in her home or in some of the several storages she had all over the world. The several boxes she brought from home and left in the office, for example, would most likely provide yet another set of expositions after the Wakandan one ended; and after she actually gathered the courage to open them all and see what they contained.

Nat and Peggy called her a hoarder; Diana liked to think of herself as an art enthusiast.

What she really enjoyed, however, was the thrill of finding these artifacts, the journey, even more so than the artifacts themselves. The research, deciphering maps, braving old temples, sometimes fighting their guardians… She smiled, remembering a particularly vicious battle she fought against Arachne and hundreds of her spawn, that had infested one of Athena's ancient temples after the goddess fell against Ares. It was a battle worthy of poetry and songs, even though Arachne herself escaped before being slain. Sure, she spent the following hours with a burning fever and puking nonstop because of the venomous bites of the gigantic monster-spiders, but the thrill of the fight made all that worth it.

And she was rewarded with the artifact she was looking for: the Sword of Athena. A weapon to replace the Godkiller sword, destroyed by Ares when they battled, more than powerful enough to justify a few spider bites.

Of course, a bit of poisoning was nothing compared to what she had to endure to find the Shield of Achilles. A shield forged in Olympus by Hephaestus himself, capable of absorbing any kind of attack, from mortals or even gods. An artifact that, like the Sword of Athena, couldn't be allowed to fall in the hands of the unworthy. An artifact for which Diana was forced to fight a Sphinx, that had taken upon itself the task of guarding Achilles' tomb for some reason. Diana shuddered; she could still feel its claws and teeth sinking in her skin, sharper than godly swords, when she answered the riddle wrongly.

Diana tilted her head; it was no wonder few people could acquire such artifacts, not when they were usually guarded by monsters, divine magic or even advanced technology. Humans simply didn't come back from those excursions, even when they were able to find those places at all, which wasn't easy.

The world was older than humans liked to believe. _Mankind_ was older. Many of the tales Homer and Hesiod told to the world happened far before than they thought. Cities like Athens, Thebes, Sparta and Troy had lived in all their glory when the gods still walked the Earth, thousands of years ago, and what was left of them by the time those stories were told were but shadows of what they had been under the care of the Olympians.

Much of the history of mankind was lost during the War of the Gods, for which was not only a war between Ares and the Olympians, but between _all_. Gods, demigods, monsters, Amazons, men… The war rained fire over the world and ancient cities, ancient knowledge, were simply wiped out from existence.

The Olympians that ruled over the Earth, with the exception of Ares, were killed. Themyscira was made into an island by Zeus shortly before he perished, and the Amazons were sent there for their own protection, to watch and guard the world if Ares ever returned. Legendary cities that fought together against Ares were completely destroyed and the ones that were left standing were pretty much ashes and dust, _nothing_ compared to what they once were.

History was lost, the gods faded into myth and what was left were poems and statues made by people who had never seen an Olympian or heard their true story.

Diana sighed. That was why her job was so important. History should never be lost to time. And if she could, even if a little, regain what was lost, to remind mankind of what they once were – of what they could be –, then she would do her best.

Even if that involved paperwork.

Groaning, Diana grabbed her pen and prepared herself to start working again, trying to fuel her motivation with the importance of her self-appointed task. That's when she heard someone knocking.

"Come in," she said, putting her pen down.

A man entered slowly, carrying a briefcase. He was dressed in an expensive suit, but he didn't appear to be one of the usual rich people that wanted to meet her, either to talk about work or to simply try to charm her into a date, something that annoyed the hell out of her.

Then she noticed the man's face.

"Excuse, Miss Diana Prince? I'm–"

"Happy Hogan!" Diana exclaimed, surprised, getting up. She opened a big smile. "I'm a fan!"

The paperwork would never get done that day, she realized on the back of her mind, as she advanced towards him.

* * *

Happy still didn't know what Tony's interest in the Smithsonian was – or what did he want with a museum curator –, but he reached a pretty logical conclusion when he finally saw Diana Prince. He was stunned for a moment, his mind expecting someone quite different when he heard she was a curator.

Diana Prince wasn't simply beautiful, she was most likely the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen in his life. And Happy worked with Tony Stark, who routinely had actresses and models following him around, so he wasn't unused to stunning beauty. For a moment there, Happy was frozen in place, his usually quick wit failing him. Then he shook his head and tried to introduce himself.

Only to be immediately interrupted by her.

"Happy Hogan!" she exclaimed, dazzling him with a perfect smile. "I'm a fan!"

If Happy was stunned before, now he simply didn't know what to do. There was a long silence as he just stared back at her.

"Wh… I-I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Happy managed to ask, wanting to punch himself for how stupid he probably looked right now.

Diana shook her head. "Oh, no, we were never properly introduced," she said, smiling again. "It was the middle of July, I think, 1990. The place? Hell's Kitchen. The event? The Battle of the Century: Happy Hogan VS Battlin' Jack Murdock!"

Happy's jaw was agape, his surprise growing at each word Miss Prince said. From all the possibilities he could've expected to happen in this little trip, _this_ one would've never, not in a million years, crossed his mind. What were the chances?

He fully admitted, without any shame, that his boxing career was a total failure. The only thing he got from it was his ironic nickname – Happy Hogan –, because of his refusal to smile during a fight. He wasn't a bad boxer, but he wasn't excellent either. Happy was average and he made an average career.

And an average career in boxing – with an average pay – wasn't really worth all the punches to the head, at least in his opinion, so he retired and was lucky enough to had done it in time to find something else to do with his life.

The fact that someone even remembered his brief and unremarkable career was shocking, especially when the person who did it looked like Diana Prince.

It wasn't a criticism or anything like that, but Miss Prince simply didn't look like a boxing fan. She seemed, in fact, like the last person who would give a damn about it, if Happy were to be honest. Miss Prince was a museum curator, young, extremely beautiful and no doubt a cultured, intellectual kind of person, considering what her job entailed. Not that someone like that couldn't enjoy boxing, obviously, but they just weren't the usual fans of the sport.

Happy realized he still had his mouth opened like an idiot.

"I'm sorry, you caught me by surprise," Happy apologized. "You watched my fight against Jack Murdock?"

Diana Prince grinned. Without answering, she turned back and went to a box full of stuff on the corner of the office, probably something she brought from her home, he noticed, because it was identified sloppily by a marker pen as _Diana's Stuff, Box 136_.

"Where is it, I could've sworn…" he heard Diana mutter as she went through her things. "A-Ha!" She walked back to him, a gigantic smile on her face, then she put something on the palm of his hand.

A single human tooth.

Happy had no idea what to say, but luckily he didn't have to, because she began speaking.

"Not only I watched your fight against Battlin' Murdock," Diana started, excitedly ", I was in the first roll! I was visiting New York at the time and I heard about the 'Battle of the Century' going on." She beamed. "I was standing so close to the ring that Jack Murdock's tooth came flying right on my hair when you hit him with that uppercut! It was an amazing fight!"

When he heard that story, Happy couldn't help but to think about the date. They were in 2010 and that fight – the greatest fight of Happy's life and the highlight of his average career – had happened in 1990, twenty years ago. Diana Prince was what? 30 years old maybe?

What kind of parents allowed a 10-year-old child to watch a boxing fight so close to the ring that a flying tooth ended stuck to her hair?

Well, it wasn't his business anyway, so he ignored that, glancing at the broken tooth. He remembered that moment, vividly, how couldn't he? Battlin' Murdock wasn't the best boxer in the world, far from that, but that guy was _tough_.

"He lost his tooth and he still didn't fall," Happy said, chuckling at the absurd level of punishment that man was able to endure. He looked at Diana. "Did you know he was never knocked-out? In his entire career. I swear, hitting that guy was like hitting–"

"Oak," Diana finished for him. "I remember when you said that after the fight."

Happy shook his head slightly, a smile on his face, still not quite believing how weird his day was going; but not in an unpleasant way, surprisingly.

"Like hitting oak," he agreed. "My God, I still can't believe how tough that fight was. Can't believe I won!"

He gave her Battlin' Jack Murdock's tooth back and Diana carefully put it back into the box. That was a little bit weird, he admitted, but he supposed she saw it as a souvenir instead of something that used to stay in someone's mouth.

"So you like boxing, Miss Prince?" he asked, while she made sure the tooth was safe inside her box.

She gave him a mysterious smile. "My aunt loved martial-arts of all kinds. I guess some of that rubbed off on me." That might explain what she was doing watching that fight as a kid, Happy thought. "That was one of the coolest fights I've ever watched."

Happy scratched his neck, a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, come on, Miss Prince, it was a small fight between two unsuccessful boxers," he said. "The highlight of my career, sure, but that doesn't mean much."

Diana looked at him seriously.

"You fought and you bled for your dream, Mr. Hogan. That's more than most people ever do in the entirety of their lives." She touched his shoulder for a moment, her eyes never leaving his. " _Never_ make light of this."

For some reason, those words hit Happy like a straight punch from Battlin' Murdock, right in his gut; maybe because that was the first time he ever heard someone voicing what he himself thought all those years ago, when he decided to try to follow a boxing career. Happy knew, back then, that he most likely wouldn't be the greatest boxer in the world. He knew he wasn't the most skilled fighter or had an incredible affinity for martial-arts.

But he wanted to _try_.

Looking back, it was easy to mock his youthful dream, to shatter the illusion he had. Most people he knew did just that with a big "I told you so". Even Happy was frustrated with himself for a long time, especially after he gave up and had no job or any prospects of getting one any time soon, not without experience.

However, Happy _never_ regretted his decision. Like Diana said, he was brave enough to try to follow his dream and you couldn't put a price on that.

* * *

Diana smiled when Happy looked at her and nodded, as if thanking her for the kind words. He looked so cute embarrassed! Like a giant child with a beard, getting caught doing something wrong.

She shouldn't tease him, though, she liked Happy Hogan. Like he said, he wasn't the best boxer in the world, but he had an incredible fire inside him back then. Diana hadn't lied when she said the fight was amazing, both Happy Hogan and Battlin' Jack Murdock were driven by pure force of will.

None of them wanted to give up, none of them cared about getting punched, none of them allowed their blood and their injuries to stop them.

Especially Jack Murdock, even though he lost. Diana never saw a normal human take that many punches and still keep fighting.

It was like he could do that all day.

He reminded Diana of a certain someone.

"So, what happened to Jack Murdock?" Diana asked, suddenly, looking at Happy. "I watched some of his fights on the TV, but I never knew what became of him."

Happy's expression grew somber.

"He was murdered," he said and Diana's eyes widened. "Rumor was it had something to do with the mob. Apparently he refused to take a dive and, well, you know how those guys are."

Diana did know, better than most. It was why she actively hunted them down whenever she passed through. She sighed, saddened by the news.

"That's… I have no words," she said, shaking her head. "What a sad thing."

"Yeah, it was," Happy agreed. "It really was."

She decided to change the subject.

"What about you, Mr. Hogan?" Diana asked. "What have you done with your life after you retired?"

He smiled. "I work in security. Knew a guy back then who was kind enough to give me a job and show me the ropes. Turned out I'm better at this than I was at throwing punches."

"I'm glad to hear that, Mr. Hogan," Diana answered, happy for him.

"It's why I'm here, actually," he continued. "My employer wanted me to deliver this to your hands only." Saying this, Happy extended the black briefcase he'd been holding. Hesitantly, Diana took it and placed it over her desk. "Sorry to keep you waiting, I guess I lost myself thinking about my boxing days."

She smiled at his little joke, but Diana was far more interested in the briefcase now.

"Who is your employer, Mr. Hogan?" Diana asked, curious.

"You probably heard his name before: Tony Stark."

 _CRACK!_ The corner of her desk, where Diana had her hand laid on, was torn apart when her fingers twitched uncontrollably.

"Oh my god, are you okay?!" Happy exclaimed, going to her, a look of frightened surprise on his face.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," she reassured him, quickly, tossing the piece of wood she ripped from her table away. "This desk… I've been telling them to replace this thing for ages. Termites, can you believe it?"

He did believe it, apparently, because there was no other way a small woman like her could break a table like that with her bare hands.

"Well, at least you're okay," he said, relieved. Then he grinned. "I couldn't bare to see my biggest fan getting hurt. Or, as I can also say, my _only_ fan." Despite her nerves, Diana chuckled. "It's been a real pleasure, Miss Prince, but I'll leave you to your work. It was very nice to meet you."

"The pleasure was mine, Mr. Hogan," Diana answered, as he turned to leave. "Say, did Mr. Stark tell you what this is?"

He looked at her, frowning. "He didn't say anything… I thought you would know." She just shook her head. "Well, he didn't tell me, so I suppose it's not any of my business, Miss Prince. I'll leave you to it. Goodbye!"

Diana waved at him and turned her eyes to the briefcase as soon as he closed the door.

What was that? What did Tony Stark want with her? Did he find out that she'd rescued him? Did Howard, Maria or Jarvis tell him something while they were still alive? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she bought a whole lot of Stark Industries' shares, that could be it, or at least she hoped it was, because it would be a lot easier to explain.

The adrenalin was coursing through her veins and she felt incredibly cold, more nervous than she felt in a very long time.

Dreading, Diana opened the briefcase.

The only thing inside of it was an old picture; a black and white picture of her, Steve and the Howling Commandos. A picture she remembered taking in Lublin, in 1944, after they battled HYDRA and the Nazis. A picture where she was standing proud with her Amazon armor, her sword and shield, still looking exactly the same as she did now.

Slowly, unable to look elsewhere, Diana grabbed the photo, carefully. Her eyes fixed on Steve for a long while, her memory bringing her back to that day, to the first time she had kissed him. Despite her nervousness, she smiled; she had no idea that photo still existed.

That was when she noticed a little note under it. She grabbed it.

 _You are a difficult woman to find, Angel, or should I say, Miss Diana Prince? I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you in the middle of the desert, except I believe we met before, haven't we? Seeing your photo on the Smithsonian website, I can wholeheartedly state that you're still as beautiful as you were on the day we met. And, apparently, as you were when you met my father too._

 _Curious indeed, but who am I to judge? You saved my life and I wanted to thank you in person._

 _I would like to cordially invite you to the 'Third Annual Benefit for the Firefighters Family Fund' that Stark Industries is throwing two days from now, that is, if you aren't already showing up anyway. You are one of the biggest shareholders of the company, aren't you?_

 _I do believe we'll have a lot to talk about. Dear old dad seems to have left quite a bit out from his WWII stories. Since you are a specialist on the subject, maybe you could fill in the gaps for me._

 _Hope to see you there,_

 _Tony Stark._

 _PS. Knowing my father, I think the intended to give this photo to you at some point and ended up forgetting about it. Well, it's yours now, I hope you like it. See you soon!_

There was only one thing on Diana's mind after she finished reading this:

"Son of a bitch!"

* * *

 **Wakanda – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Steve Rogers was beginning to realize he was a "city boy" through and through, as he followed Diana inside the Wakandan forest. Every single root seemed to search for his feet to tangle themselves around his ankles, as if they had a mind of their own, and he was starting to actually believe that the trees were moving their branches just to hit him in the face.

A foolish thing to think, of course, but how could he explain the fact that Diana seemed completely immune to all that, as she pranced between the trees?

This wasn't the first time he had to move in the woods, the Howling Commandos were part of missions that involved that before. And he couldn't exactly complain, not when he was a Super-Soldier and the men following him those times weren't. But it was undeniable that he did not like walking through the Wakandan rain forest, not when nature seemed to have a grudge against him.

Still, a mission was a mission. And right now they were familiarizing themselves with the Wakandan grounds.

Ten days had passed since they arrived in Wakanda. The Howling Commandos and the Wakandan forces had participated in several joint trainings. Howard was helping the Wakandan Science Division to develop ways to fight HYDRA technology, to make sure their losses were minimum; Wakandan technology was beyond advanced, but so was HYDRA and the Wakandans had never fought against them. Every bit of knowledge was valuable.

Peggy and the Wakandan War Dogs were monitoring the movement of HYDRA's troops, or at least trying to. Despite all the information they'd gathered, there were still several HYDRA bases they didn't know about, several allies Schmidt could count on – even inside countries fighting against the Nazis – and several HYDRA troops scattered throughout the world, hidden even from their intelligence division.

They didn't know much about what was coming, what was the size or the strength of their troops, but one thing was certain: HYDRA was coming to Wakanda and it wouldn't be long until they clashed.

Thus, the reconnaissance mission. They needed to know what to expect on those grounds, or at least that was the official explanation Peggy gave them; Steve wasn't so sure. HYDRA wouldn't come through the woods, it simply wasn't feasible, they all knew that. They would arrive through the plains, as their troops movements indicated. Sure, maybe they could scatter through the forest or even try to retreat using this path, but in that case Steve was absolutely certain that the Border Tribe could hunt them much better than he could.

No, Steve was beginning to realize this so-called mission wasn't a mission at all. It was a stroll through the woods. If the fact that all this was useless – as far as info gathering was concerned – wasn't enough, then the barely concealed smiles on Peggy, Bucky and Howard's faces when they advised this mission should be enough.

Diana was even holding a picnic basket, full of freshly baked goods, for God's sake! What kind of military mission would ever require that? Little Red Riding Hood marching to defeat the Big Bad Wolf?

This wasn't a mission at all. They'd sent them on a date.

He had no words to describe just how absurd all that was. They were in the middle of a war, an enemy force was approaching and every single second was valuable. Steve could be training together with the Howling Commandos, he could be devising strategies to the coming fight, he could be doing _anything_ that would give them an edge.

Instead of that, he and Diana were sent to a walk in the woods.

Steve held a sigh. He was sure they meant well, even though they should've told him; then again, if they did, he simply would've refused. The past few days had been stressful, demanding and tiring. Waiting for an attack wasn't something Steve would ever get used to and it showed. He spent every single minute since they arrived working, trying to improve their defenses, thinking alongside King Azzuri how to best fight HYDRA. They trained, they prepared and they trained and prepared again.

And somewhere along the line his friends had decided he needed a break. Steve didn't agree with them, but he did trust them.

The fact that he was alone with Diana didn't hurt either, even if she did still believe this was a legitimate mission.

He was so distracted with his thoughts that he almost crashed against Diana when she stopped, suddenly. Steve watched as she studied the ground for a moment.

"What is it?" he asked, looking down.

She glanced at him as if that was a stupid question.

"Tracks," Diana explained, slowly. "Can't you see them?"

Steve looked again, trying to see what she was seeing. There was dirt, leaves and broken branches. Exactly like every single inch of the woods they'd already walked through.

He looked at her again, clearly confused. She smiled and crouched.

"Here," she showed him, as he crouched too. "Footprints on the dirt. A broken branch, scattered leaves. It makes a clear trail leading that way."

Steve was seeing absolutely nothing there.

"People?" he risked asking.

Diana rolled her eyes. "Only if they have paws for feet."

She spoke as if it were something obvious, as if she was telling him the sky was blue, but even then he couldn't see a single thing there.

"I can't see anything," he admitted.

Diana seemed to find that particularly amusing.

"You've never hunted before, have you?"

"Can't say I have, unless we count hunting HYDRA soldiers as hunting."

She chuckled. "It's a type of hunt, I suppose, but not exactly a difficult one." Most people would disagree with her, but in her case, it was true. Diana smiled fondly, remembering something. "My aunt Menalippe taught me how to track when I was a little girl. We would go out hunting always, most times hidden from my mother. She did not like the idea of her teaching me how to shoot an arrow so young."

Steve couldn't help but to mirror her smile. She was homesick, he realized.

"What did you hunt in Themyscira?" he asked.

"Our island had all kinds of creatures," Diana answered, happily. "Deer, boars, bears, lions…" Steve smiled, hearing her listing all the creatures on her homeland, until she suddenly added: "Griffins, manticores, chimeras, wyverns, sirens…"

"What?" Steve choked.

She most certainly misinterpreted his surprise. "I know, that was why my mother did not want me to go hunting as a child, but I wasn't in any real danger! My aunt was a true follower of Artemis, _she_ was the danger." She grinned. "Still, I remember the first day she allowed me to hunt on my own. Things did not go exactly as planned, so maybe Mother had a point."

Without any warning whatsoever, Diana extended her leg up, tapping her thigh; given that her armor consisted of a very short skirt and that Diana was exceptionally flexible, Steve was graced with the sight of her bare leg inches away from his face.

"You can barely see it now," Diana continued normally, as Steve tried his best to control his blush, "but the griffin almost ripped off my leg with its claws!" She was right, Steve couldn't see anything except the tantalizing skin of her thigh so close to his face; he didn't mind all that much. "I managed to drop it from the sky with a well-shot arrow and I thought it was over. Big mistake. When I arrived to finish it with my knife, the griffin slashed me with its claws and lunged at my throat. Menalippe shot him right in the eye from a mile away before he could, though."

Steve honestly had no idea what to make of that. On one hand, griffins were mythical creatures, possessing the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, something out of fairytale. On the other hand, he didn't believe Diana was lying to him and he _had_ seen some very weird things on Themyscira.

Maybe they existed there? Or something similar, at least, that the Amazons called a griffin. He had no idea, but right now, with Diana's leg still so close to him, he didn't really care.

"I have never seen my aunt run so fast as she carried me to the healing temple," Diana mentioned, tilting her head. "When we got there, most of the bleeding had already stopped, so it probably was not as serious as I thought, but I was very scared back there." Then she beamed. "It was my first hunt, however, and I was _very_ happy, blood or no blood."

"How big, exactly, was this… Griffon?" The very thought of a tiny Diana hunting a mythological monster sent chills through Steve's spine.

"I don't know… As big as that flying automobile that Howard was obsessing over? Maybe a bit bigger. It was a long time ago, Steve, I don't remember."

Jesus Christ… Mythological monster or not, a beast that size should _not_ be approached by anyone, let alone a kid. Sure, Amazons were Super-Soldiers and Diana's strength put theirs to shame, but by what she told him, that griffon almost succeeded in killing her. That thought didn't sit well with him.

"Oh, you look like Mother right now," Diana said, laughing. "Exactly the same frown she had when Menalippe told her."

"I just… I worry about you," he admitted, embarrassed.

She smiled, tenderly. Then she kissed his cheek. "I'm fine, but thank you."

Diana pulled her leg back and got up, eyes scanning the ground. Steve did the same, but slowly, still feeling her lips against his skin.

Then something occurred him.

"This trail… This isn't a griffin, is it?" he asked, worried.

She laughed. "If it were, we would know, believe me. They like to mark their territory with the bones of their prey. There are few things quite as unforgettable as seeing patches of the forest adorned with the skeletons of bears and lions hanging from the branches." He didn't really understand what she found so funny about that horrifying sight. "No, this is far smaller. Some kind of feline, I think." She looked at him. "Want me to teach you how to track it?"

Well, why not? It wasn't like this was a real mission anyway.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Golden City – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Aneka observed from afar as Ayo showed her new gift to her fellow Dora Milaje.

"This here is the Colt M1911," she said, excitedly, holding the primitive weapon. "It's a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine fed, recoil operated pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It's the standard sidearm of the American Army."

"Does this thing really use gunpowder?" one of them asked.

"It does," Ayo confirmed, nodding sagely.

"What if it explodes?!" another Dora Milaje asked, horrified. "This is almost as crazy as using fossil fuels to run their vehicles."

"Sergeant Bucky assured me it is safe," Ayo said. "Well, as safe as something carrying an explosive component in it can be."

Aneka couldn't watch this anymore. She walked inside the training room, her vibranium spear firmly held in her hand. At the mere sight of her, all the Dora Milaje got in position, every single noise dying out.

The General of the Dora Milaje studied her soldiers, satisfied with their form, even with all the previously foolishness.

"You will be late for the training if you dally anymore," Aneka said. "We do not want to keep 'Sergeant Bucky' waiting, do we?"

No one laughed, no one reacted at all, not with all the training they had to conceal their emotions while they were working; even so, Aneka knew them well enough to realize all of them wanted to laugh and that Ayo was trying her best to hide her embarrassment.

"Dismissed," Aneka said, and as if they were one, the Dora Milaje moved. "Ayo, stay."

She obeyed the command immediately, but Aneka noticed that it was the last thing she wanted to do. Slowly, Ayo turned and looked at her.

"General?"

Aneka simply stared at her for a few seconds. "Sergeant Bucky? Really?" This time, Ayo did blush. "How did you come in possession of this weapon, Ayo? I thought you had lost that foolish bet."

A bet which the prize was, apparently, a kiss. Aneka was not happy when she learned of this, even though the maneuver worked well enough to approach the outsiders and the Wakandans.

"Sergeant Barnes gave it to me," Ayo explained, her voice low. "He told me that the fight wasn't really fair, since their man could heal any injury, and it wasn't right to leave me without my prize since he got his."

Aneka continued staring.

"If the fight was not fair," Aneka began, slowly, "why did you kiss him?"

This time, Ayo didn't answer, she simply blushed harder.

Sighing, Aneka approached Ayo, her expression softening for a moment. She touched her face.

"Sooner or later they will leave and never return," Aneka said. "I do not wish to see you hurt because of that."

Ayo simply looked down, then nodded. "I will not."

Aneka looked into her eyes for a long while.

"Then go, otherwise you will be late."

She watched as Ayo left the room, walking fast, and sighed again. The complications of youth… Sometimes fighting a war was easier than dealing with that.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Golden City, Citadel Main Lab – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Howard carefully loaded the pistol in front of him, keeping one eye closed as he inserted bullet after bullet. Around him, the extremely high-tech lab seemed to pulse with energy, the machines buzzing non-stop. He still couldn't quite believe just how advanced Wakanda was. It wasn't simply a few years in front of the rest of the world, it was _centuries_ ahead of anything else. Of course, he had developed some stuff they'd never seen, but it simply couldn't compare with the sheer amount of tech they had built up since the beginning of their history.

Vibranium truly was a miraculous substance, Howard admitted.

That's not to say Wakanda didn't have brilliant minds, because they had, but in the "great technology race" of the world, Wakanda had started running before other countries even knew they were participating. They had skipped stone, bronze and iron and landed directly in the "Vibranium Age", right at the founding of their kingdom.

While other civilizations were crafting armors made of leather and fur and beating rocks until they were sharp enough to hunt with, Wakanda already had _the_ material to do anything they wanted to. Light, easy to work with, stronger than any other substance out there and possessing unique properties that allowed the Wakandans to begin their technological journey that much earlier.

There was a giant leap between having vibranium and having advanced tech, Howard would never deny that, and that leap required years and years of study and bright minds, but it was undeniable that Wakanda had an incredible advantage over the rest of the world and they made use of it.

Howard couldn't help but to wonder what he would've achieved if he possessed all that knowledge and access to all that vibranium… But it was useless to ponder about this. He didn't need that to develop his tech and in time he was certain that his tech would rival Wakanda's, or his name wasn't Howard Stark.

But now wasn't the time for that, he remembered, turning around with the loaded pistol; they were together in this, after all, fighting against a common enemy: HYDRA.

So without hesitation, he pointed the gun at Sergeant Barnes.

"Ready?" Howard asked him, as Peggy and James Howlett watched.

Anyone could tell that Bucky was anything but ready.

"Are you sure about this?" Bucky asked, glancing at James. "Shouldn't you try this with the immortal man first?"

"I did, but there is no point testing this only on him," Howard countered. "Without extensive study – something he won't let me do –, I have no idea about the density of his muscles and bones or if his pain threshold is the same as normal humans. No offense," he added, looking at the man. James Howlett just shrugged. "And don't be obtuse, I tested this before on dummies as well."

Bucky still wasn't convinced, his eyes never leaving the gun.

"I don't know…"

Howard sighed. "As long as I don't hit your head, you'll be fine."

"Let Peggy shoot me, then, we all know how bad you're with a g–"

 _BANG!_

Bucky flinched and closed his eyes, but luckily for him he didn't move; not even when the bullet hit him straight against the chest.

He opened a single eye, uncertain, almost as if checking if he was still alive.

"Incredible," Peggy whispered, getting closer from him. She checked the place where the bullet hit him for any wound or any mark whatsoever; there wasn't any. "Not a scratch."

"What did I tell you?" Howard bragged, putting the pistol over the table. "So, Sergeant Barnes, how do you like your new vibranium layered uniform?"

"It's amazing!" Bucky exclaimed.

Of course it was, he was the one who made it. It wasn't exactly a breakthrough in the scientific world, since the Wakandans had been doing that for centuries, but, like he said, it wasn't a competition; at least not right now.

"This will keep you safe against bullets and shrapnel," Howard explained, "even knives, though I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"What about HYDRA energy rifles?" Peggy asked.

"Well, about that…" Howard looked at James Howlett; the man sighed and stepped forward, taking Bucky's place against the shielded wall. Stark turned around and picked one of the HYDRA energy rifles they managed to acquire from the many HYDRA forces they'd defeated and aimed it.

Then he fired.

The result wasn't, in any way, as unremarkable as the bullet. The blue energy hit James against the chest and threw him against the wall, strongly enough to break bones. The paint of the uniform was simply vaporized, alongside the strands of cloth untouched by the "vibranium bath" he subjected it, leaving behind only the slightly silver color of the vibranium. Smoke and the smell of burned flesh took the entire lab.

There was a long silence and Howard couldn't help but to be a little bit apprehensive with James' stillness.

Suddenly, making his heart race, James took a long breath, as if he were emerging from a long swim underwater; and released a chain of curse words that would make a sailor blush.

"As you see," Howard started, James still cursing on the background, "the vibranium layered in the uniform is enough to hold the energy blast, but not completely." Howard waved his hand to try and dissipate the smoke and the terrible smell; Peggy and Bucky were helping James to sit. "Burns, an impact strong enough to break bones and general unpleasantness all around. You won't die, but you most likely won't be able to continue fighting either."

"So what's the point?" Bucky asked. "We all know HYDRA won't be using bullets and knives when they come, at least not most of them."

"The point, Sergeant Barnes, is that I can fix this with a vibranium plate on your chest, on your back and on your legs," Howard countered, "but you still won't be completely guarded. There will be non-protected spots, including your face, that will leave you vulnerable. I wanted you to see that for yourself, so you can tell the others exactly what will happen if you get careless. Vibranium is _not_ an invincibility spell."

It was weird to see how attentive the three of them were as they listened to him; Howard supposed it was because he rarely was so serious.

"So my advice, as always, is: _don't get shot_ ," Howard ended his speech.

Bucky, Peggy and even James nodded. Well, good advice was good advice.

"Now, if you manage not to get shot," Howard continued, "you'll have the opportunity to try these little things here." Walking to the table, he picked a pistol clip and a rifle magazine. "Vibranium bullets. They need special guns to be fired, of course, otherwise the whole thing will just disintegrate in your hands, but they pack quite the punch. Not the wildest idea I ever had, true, but the Wakandans don't use fire weapons, so you'll probably be the first to use it in battle."

"Are they any better than the explosive rounds you made using HYDRA's energy weapons?" Peggy asked, grabbing the clip to see it better.

"Different, not better," Howard answered. "They have better penetration than the explosive rounds, but cause less damage overall. I'll leave it to you to choose which one to use." He went back to the long table, pointing at the equipment there. "Grenades, timed mines, vibranium knives for close-quarter combat, portable energy shields to provide quick cover… What else? Oh! Of course!"

Howard walked to another table and grabbed a pair of vibranium gauntlets.

"This one I made especially for you, Captain Howlett," Howard said, giving him the gauntlets. "Try them."

James frowned, suspicious, but took the shining gloves. The gauntlets were a mix of leather and vibranium, covering everything from his hands to his elbows.

"I know by now you like to throw your gun away and 'claw' your way out of some fights," Howard started explaining as James put them on, "but truth be told, your bone claws are not sharp enough to face the monsters we're about to fight. So I thought I'd give you a little edge. Try them."

Captain Howlett was still frowning, assessing the vibranium gauntlets, trying to understand the point, no doubt. His claws would either rip them or they wound be blocked by the vibranium, or at least that's what he was thinking. Still, he did as Howard asked and unsheathed them, slowly.

Just as Howard knew it would happen, the claws weren't blocked by the vibranium nor they ripped the gauntlets. Instead, the bone claws entered the hollow vibranium blades hidden in the gauntlets, pushing them out, not unlike a sword being sheathed.

The difference was that unlike a normal sword sheath, designed to hide the blade to protect it's wielder, the "vibranium sheath" of the gauntlet was sharp, designed to envelop James' bone claws with a sharp vibranium blade and give them more power.

To summarize, Howard had just given James Howlett a new set of claws; a vibranium one.

"I like it," James said, grinning like a hungry predator.

Howard truly hoped he wouldn't regret this decision.

"Quite the arsenal," Bucky mentioned, impressed. "I think the boys will be happy. Jacques will, at least," he added, eyeing the explosives. An explosive expert certainly should appreciate his work, Howard considered.

"I'm worried about giving you people so much firepower," Peggy joked. "You do have an awful habit of sending stuff up in flames too often. I do hope Steve keeps an eye on you."

Howard chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think Steve is worried about this right now. That is, if he realized we sent him on a date."

"I'm actually hoping he doesn't notice," Bucky said, grinning. "Steve can talk to anyone, about anything, and have an interesting conversation… Unless he's on a date. Then he gets all nervous and twitchy."

"I wouldn't worry about him," James piped up. They all looked at him. "If I read the situation right, the Amazon is the one who'll pounce him."

"Don't talk about her as if she is some kind of hungry lioness!" Peggy exclaimed.

Captain Howlett simply tapped his nose. "The nose doesn't lie, Agent Carter. They both want each other, but that girl is a warrior to the core. She'll get what she wants."

Howard laughed. "Maybe I should've armed Captain Rogers properly, then."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure he'll fight to the death if she attacks him. Poor Steve."

"Lucky bastard," James muttered and Howard and Bucky agreed.

Peggy promptly smacked the three of them.

"Stop gossiping and work, gentlemen," she ordered. "We have a lot to do."

That was, unfortunately, true, so they made a silent agreement to revisit the topic later. Maybe not as "silent" as they intended, because Peggy smacked them again, but a promise was a promise.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Golden City – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Erik watched from his chair – a little bit nervous – as Queen Nanali carried a chess board to the table, her colorful dress swaying as she walked slowly. He shook his head slightly; Erik still had trouble believing in what he was seeing with his own eyes. Sometimes he wondered if he really wasn't hallucinating all this, still trapped in his dark cell back in Auschwitz.

The only reason he was able to dismiss that fear was the fact that he was pretty sure he would _never_ be able to imagine all that.

Wakanda was like a fairytale, with kings and queens and warriors and stuff that he could only understand as magic, because there was no way technology could be that advanced. It was beautiful, more than any place he had ever laid eyes on, bright and green and full of buildings so amazing that he had no idea how they were built.

But more than that, maybe the most impressive thing, was how he was being treated.

Erik suffered unimaginable things in the hands of the Nazis. He lost his family, he saw his mother being killed in front of him, he was caged, beaten, starved, experimented upon… And he saw others suffering even more. He truly believed he would've died there, alone and in the dark, until Lady Diana and Captain America appeared to save the day.

It was difficult to process the differences between _that_ and this. While in Auschwitz he felt hungry, cold and afraid; in Wakanda he was fed more than he could ever hope to eat, the sun was bright and warm and he felt safe. While in Auschwitz he was tortured by so called scientists, in Wakanda he was greeted by a king and was sitting at a table with a queen.

Even in his wildest fantasies about how his life was going to turn out, nothing of the sort had ever occurred him.

Queen Nanali placed the chess board over the table and smiled at him; he couldn't help but to smile back, her beautiful and kind expression more than enough to lower his defenses. Finally, he managed to look at the chess set.

And was immediately surprised at how elaborated and well-made it was.

Like most things in Wakanda, the pieces were made from vibranium, the silver metal glowing bright under the sunlight coming through the big windows. What interested him most, however, wasn't that; it was the form each piece was shaped.

The eight pawns were made to resemble Wakanda's soldiers, a mix of warriors from the Border Tribe, with their cloaks and swords, and others that resembled the soldiers Erik had seen inside the city, which he assumed belonged to other Tribes. The two knights were big rhinos, with long and sharp horns. The bishops were definitely shamans of some kind, with long robes and staffs, one with the mark of a panther and the other with the mark of another feline; Lady Diana had mentioned a Cheetah Goddess, so maybe that was it. The rooks had the form of the Dora Milaje, complete with their shaved heads, capes and spears. The queen was a woman that very much resembled Queen Nanali, with a long dress, a serious expression and two ring blades.

The King, obviously, was the Black Panther, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Each detail of each piece was perfectly recreated, so much that they seemed real. Erik could see strands of hair, their expressions, the way their clothes folded when their limbs moved, the tiny formations on the rhinos' leathery skin… He had no idea how those chess pieces were created, but it was a work of art.

"I see you like it," Queen Nanali said, amused, and Erik snapped his eyes up. "I had a feeling you would. Have you ever played before?"

Erik shook his head, still timid to be talking to the queen. "Never. I know some of the rules, I mean, but I can't say I've learned how to play."

"My grandfather taught me," Nanali told him, as she played with one of the pieces. "He was part of the War Dogs, Wakanda's intelligence unit, and he traveled throughout the world on missions. He fell in love with many things and one of those things was this game." She smiled. "He was the one who gave me my first set."

He looked at the vibranium set in front of him. That _was_ quite the gift.

"Lady Diana says the thing she liked most about 'Man's World' is ice-cream," Erik mentioned, still looking at the beautiful set.

Nanali chuckled. "Most Wakandans would agree with her, if the sheer quantity of ice-cream the Merchant Tribe imports every year means anything. I know T'Chaka and N'Jobu would, for certain. I tried to teach them, but they simply do not have the necessary attention span yet." Erik knew that particular fact very well, since he'd been in the company of the two princes quite often; it was like they simply couldn't stay in one place for more than five minutes. "And my King, unfortunately, is not very fond of the game."

"Is it because the King piece is so weak?" Erik asked without thinking, only to immediately snap his mouth shut.

Queen Nanali, however, was far from offended if her peals of laughter meant anything.

"No, no, Azzuri simply does not know how to play the game all that well, though he would never admit it," she explained. Nanali eyed him with a curious expression. "But it is interesting that you've pointed that out. I asked my grandfather the very same question when he was teaching me."

She held the Black Panther piece fondly.

"In Wakanda, our King is our greatest protector," Nanali continued. "The Black Panther, blessed by Bast herself, wielder of the strength of our goddess. So when my grandfather was explaining the rules of chess, the fact that the king was a weak point rather than the strongest piece in the game was curious to say the least." She placed the piece back where it was and stared at Erik. "But when he explained it to me, it all made sense."

Once again, she grabbed the King piece.

"The 'king piece' is not the 'king'," Nanali said, smirking at his visible confusion. "The true 'king' is the player, the one responsible to lead the troops in the defense of his realm." She brought the king piece close to his face. "In my grandfather's words, this piece does not represent the Black Panther, it represents Wakanda."

The Queen put the king piece down and pointed at him.

"And _you_ are the responsible for defending it." She smiled at his surprised face. "Would you like me to teach you how?"

Slowly, Erik smiled back and nodded.

"I would like that, your Highness," he answered.

Nanali tapped his forehead gently. "Then make the first move, Erik."

Hesitantly, Erik extended his hand to grab one of the pawns. He didn't know much about the game, but he knew that's how he started it. Before he could, however, Nanali held his hand. He looked at her, startled.

"Not with your hands, Erik," she said, gently. "With your gift."

He widened his eyes, pulling his hand back as if burned. Use his power? It wasn't… It wasn't that simple. He couldn't control metal just like that, not even vibranium, that seemed to react so easily to him. He was able to feel it, to sense every particle of metal around him, almost as if they were a part of him. But control it at will? Simply use his powers, as Nanali asked?

That was impossible. He needed the fear, the rage, the burning fury… Like when his mother was killed in front of him.

"I-I can't do this, Lady Nanali," he stammered.

Nanali just smiled at him, not bothered at all by his reluctance.

"Then we will learn together," she said. "So when the time comes when you need to defend _your_ realm, you will be able to do it." Nanali eyed him with kindness, not unlike Lady Diana. "I will not claim to know your struggle, but once upon a time I too needed to learn how to defend my people. I wanted to be able to protect those I love, my home, so I trained and trained until I became one of the best Dora Milaje."

Erik raised his eyebrows, surprised, but Nanali didn't wait for him to ask any questions. She picked another piece on the board, the Queen this time.

"This is the strongest piece in the game, the greatest combatant of Wakanda," she said, holding the Queen close to his face. "I wanted to be her." Nanali stared at him for a long time. "You are different, Erik, you have gifts that few people can understand. But you are not the only one. One day you will have a choice. To run and hide from those who wish you and your harm or to become strong enough to defend yourself and all of them."

Erik honestly didn't know what to say in response, so he simply said nothing. For minutes, there was only the sound of the wind and the birds chirping outside. He thought long about what happened to him and his family. What happened to all those people in Auschwitz. What _would_ happen if the Red Skull and HYDRA won.

Slowly, but with certainty, Erik Lehnsherr raised his hand and focused on the vibranium pawn in front of him. The vibranium chess pieces began to tremble as if an earthquake had hit Wakanda, and instead of moving the pawn forward, as he wanted, the piece simply fell.

He exhaled, suddenly very tired; the Queen said nothing. She just nodded to him, reassuringly, and proceeded to set the board again.

This would be a long day, Erik could already tell.

* * *

 **Peggy Carter Apartment, Washington, D.C – April 15** **th** **, 2010**

Peggy didn't remember ever seeing Diana quite this agitated. She was pacing in front of her nonstop, too worked-up to sit down and have a proper conversation, more talking to herself than to Peggy.

Not even before their last great battle during the war Diana was this frantic.

"He sent _the_ Happy Hogan to the Smithsonian, Peggy," Diana exclaimed, for some reason putting a lot of emphasis on the fact Tony had sent his personal bodyguard, Mr. Hogan, to talk to her. "He was looking for me by name. He knew what I did for a living, he knew where I'd be, he knew about my past. And then there's this!"

Diana held the black and white photo of her, Steve and the Howling Commandos; Peggy felt a pang in her heart seeing all those old friends together.

"Was Howard an utter moron for keeping this in a location Tony could simply stumble upon?" Diana asked, incensed. "What was he thinking?! I thought you said he did everything he could to keep Tony out of this part of his life?"

Perhaps sensing that Diana's rage could very well turn on her, Peggy spoke: "You're being unfair, Diana. You don't know how Tony got this photo, all you know is that Howard had it. You told me Tony thinks Howard intended to give this to you, didn't you? Howard liked to play tough, be he could be very sentimental about certain things. Maybe he kept that to remember all of you."

That gave Diana pause. And in her emotional state, when she was doing so little to mask her emotions, Peggy could clearly see that her sister regretted her previous words.

"I-I'm sorry, Peggy, you're right," Diana admitted. "Howard doesn't deserve my anger. But… Peggy, this can ruin our lives," Diana whispered. "I don't mean my job or even where I live, but you and Nat and Sharon… What will happen to all of you, all of _us_ , if Tony decides to babble about the immortal woman who fought during WWII? If he decides to tell the world who I am?"

Peggy widened her eyes. Was Diana _really_ concerned about that?

"Diana, what do you think Tony will do?" she asked, shocked, putting her tea down. "Do you truly believe he'll just run to the papers and give them a copy of this photo? That he'll call the police, the CIA and the Army and warn them about you? Do you _actually_ think this is going to happen?"

She was in silence for a long minute.

"I don't believe it will happen… But I am afraid," Diana finally said.

Hearing Diana admit she was frightened was even more shocking to Peggy. She was talking about a woman who fought the worse battles during WWII, who faced – and defeated – the God of War, who slayed countless terrifying monsters all over the world. How could this scare her?

Well, the answer was obvious: it wasn't about her. It was about the people she loved.

Slowly, because her knees just weren't the same, Peggy got up and went to Diana.

"Princess, even if Tony starts to babble, which he won't, we'll be fine," she said, holding Diana's face. "Sharon can take care of herself, we taught her that. Nat will probably enjoy the challenge and I, well, I could do with a little bit of emotion, to be honest," she laughed.

Diana gave her a tiny smile.

"And you?" Peggy continued. "What exactly would they do against you? Praise you as a hero?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, SHIELD won't try to either recruit me or eliminate a possible threat, it's not like they do that on a daily basis."

"Fury is not an imbecile," Peggy stated, "otherwise I wouldn't have put him there. He may be nosy, distrustful and even impertinent sometimes, but he can most definitely recognize friend from foe. _If_ it comes to that, you won't have to worry about SHIELD trying to haul you to a secret lab somewhere."

God knew that whoever tried to do something this stupid would not last very long, not against a furious Diana, SHIELD and the Army backing them up or not. On that regard, she had nothing to worry about.

"Now, stop being ridiculous," Peggy said, going back to the table and serving some tea for Diana, "and sit down." Sighing, Diana did as she asked, accepting the tea. "Drink, it'll do you good."

She did as Peggy asked, not bothered by the high temperature of the tea in the least.

"What do you think I should do?" Diana asked a few moments later, apparently calmer. "Do you think I should go to this party?"

Peggy nodded. "Yes. If nothing else, it'll provide you a good opportunity to actually meet your godson. Wasn't that what you wanted when you took Howard's letters to Tony, after his funeral?"

Diana tilted her head a bit. "When you told me they had a difficult relationship I thought those letters would help. And I do admit, I wanted to meet him. But–"

"'But' nothing, you got your chance," Peggy interrupted. She sighed. "Diana, you don't have to tell him more than you want to, but make an effort. It wouldn't hurt for you to make some more friends. Tony could be one."

"I have friends," Diana countered.

"You have colleagues," Peggy corrected, "who barely know you outside your 'curator persona'. And you have us, Natalia, me and Sharon. And that's it."

"You don't have many friends either," Diana mumbled, annoyed, drinking some tea.

"True, but I'm old and tired, I don't want more friends, nor do I need them. _You_ do. And I think someone that already knows a bit more about you than most is a good place to start." Peggy refilled Diana's cup. "So stop acting like a jittery teenager on a first date and go."

Diana closed her eyes and shuddered.

"First, don't even say 'Tony Stark' and 'date' in the same context, it's disgusting. He's my godson!"

Peggy rolled her eyes. As if the Olympian gods had any problem with taboo relationships. Still, Diana was not raised among them, so she probably found the whole notion as disturbing as she did.

It was too funny to drop it, though.

"I don't know," Peggy teased, "he's certainly good looking. Inherited Howard's handsomeness, no doubt. I can see the appeal. If I were a few years younger..."

To her delight, Diana trembled in revulsion. She cackled.

"Stop it!" Diana exclaimed. "I don't want _that_ anywhere near my mind." She finished her tea, no doubt wishing it was something a lot stronger; she raised a second finger. "Second, if I go to the party, even if Tony keeps his mouth shut, I'll be walking under the spotlight. Every eye in the world will be looking at me. Newspapers will investigate my life, intelligence organizations will no doubt be curious and who knows who else's attention I'll pick."

Peggy simply shrugged. "That shipped has sailed. Tony clearly wants to meet you and if you don't go to the party he'll simply come to you. My guess? He wants a public place. He's probably uncertain how you'll react and he knows you're dangerous. Tony may be impulsive, but he's not stupid. Much like his father."

"So I just… go? That's your advice?" Diana asked, uncertain.

"Buy a new dress first," Peggy recommended. "I know you like to hoard stuff, even clothes, but there's a limit."

"I don't hoard things!"

"Diana, you keep someone's tooth in a box!"

"It's a special tooth!"

Peggy almost had to bite her own tongue to stop herself from saying exactly what she thought about that; it was a conversation they already had before, but clearly they needed to have it again. Now was not the time, though.

She breathed deeply.

"Stay here tonight," Peggy suggested. "Tomorrow we'll go out and buy something for the party."

Diana just nodded. Without saying anything, Peggy refilled both cups and they simply drank it in silence for a few minutes.

Then something occurred to Peggy.

"Say, Diana, you did have a first date, right?" Peggy asked. Diana opened her mouth to complain, irritated, but Peggy didn't let her. "I'm serious, I'm actually curious."

"Of course I had a first date!"

"Before Steve?" Peggy risked.

"Peggy, I was a few thousand years when I had that date with Steve," Diana retorted. "It was the best and most remarkable date in my life, but not my first."

"Which was the first?" Peggy asked, leaning on the table, interested.

Diana thought for a moment. "I was 25, I think. An Amazon named Io took me to swim in the hot springs on the mountains." Diana smiled fondly, suddenly looking much younger. "Themyscira was warm, but our mountains were high and chilly. The place was covered in snow, but not even that stopped the flowers from blooming bright. She took wine and grapes and olives… She stole my first kiss. It was nice."

"And then what?" Peggy smiled, wanting to hear more.

She stopped for a moment and giggled, startling Peggy. "And then… Then the wine fulfilled its purpose, things got heated and when Io decided to get a little bit bolder, Antiope appeared out of nowhere and put an arrow through her hand." Diana giggled again. "I didn't mind, I was having the time of my life, but my aunt was _not_ happy with the situation."

Peggy's jaw was agape.

"She shot her with an arrow?!"

"Oh, she wasn't hurt, not seriously," Diana dismissed the concern. "A little bit of Apollo's waters and her wound was gone, not even a scar to show. If I recall, I'd skipped my lessons to go to the hot springs with Io. My aunt got concerned and tracked me, only to appear at the worst possible moment." Diana chuckled. "Io was not hurt, but my aunt gave her quite the talk, or so I've heard. Put the fear of the gods on her." She sighed, suddenly losing the smile. "And my mother gave me one of the worst lectures of my life. Topped only by her next topic of conversation. I believe you call it 'the birds and the bees' talk?"

Peggy couldn't help herself, she started laughing. Diana simply shook her head, still traumatized by the memory.

"I was 25, Peggy! And Mother was acting as if I hadn't seen nor heard anything of the sort on the many parties the Amazons threw every year. As if I hadn't read all 12 volumes of Clio's treatises on bodily pleasure!"

That only made Peggy laugh even harder, until literal tears were running down her face.

"Why were they so against your little romance?" Peggy asked, drying her face after a whole minute of laughing. "Did they not like this Io?"

"Everybody liked Io, she was our best blacksmith," Diana answered. "It probably had something to do with the fact that I was 25 and she was… 300 and something." Peggy's eyes bulged. "Oh, don't you start! Io was one of the youngest Amazons on Themyscira. What was I supposed to do? Take a vow of chastity and refuse to date anyone? Swim through the magical barrier of the island and try to board passing ships to find a suitable pair? Mother and my aunts were unreasonable."

"Did they truly not allow you to date anyone?" Peggy questioned, curious.

"Well, they did their very best to make things difficult, but they didn't outright forbid me," Diana conceded. "They did, however, try to frighten every single Amazon from laying hands on me."

"Did it work?"

She tilted her head.

"For a while." Then Diana grinned. "Amazons are very brave, though."

Peggy chuckled. "And apparently severely pent-up."

Diana spat her tea all over the table when Peggy said that and soon both of them were laughing nonstop, their worries left behind.

* * *

 **Wakanda – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Steve soon realized something else: he would die hungry if he ever had to hunt for a living.

Diana was trying to teach him, she really was, but she was able to see and smell and sense things that Steve simply couldn't. It wasn't simply a matter of better heightened senses – because hers were clearly superior to his –, it was a matter of experience. Diana learned how to track, how to hunt, when she was a little girl and continued practicing her entire life; and if she was telling the truth, something Steve never doubted even once, she had lived a very long life indeed.

Simply put, there was no way for Steve to become a hunter even remotely comparable to Diana, no matter how well she taught him.

Strangely enough, that didn't bother him in the least. Being there, listening to Diana's lessons, useful or not, filled him with happiness.

"Can you see it here, Steve?" Diana said, smiling brightly, suddenly stopping in front of a tree. She traced her fingers through the bark. "Claw marks. I was right, this is a feline, either sharpening its claws or marking territory. Quite small, though…"

Steve did see the marks on the tree, but if she hadn't pointed it out he would've never noticed anything.

"And look at that…" she whispered, grabbing something stuck to the tree bark; a few strands of black fur. She turned to him. "Smell this."

Before Steve could do anything, Diana put the fur tuft under his nose, forcing him to smell it; or try to smell it, because as far as he was concerned the thing had no smell whatsoever.

"See?" Diana asked, excited, smelling the fur as well; she frowned in disgust. "Strong! We can certainly use it to track it by smell."

How? Steve had no idea, but apparently Amazons had quite the sense of smell.

"So, Steve," Diana started, following the trail through the woods with her nose, "you visited my home, I told you about my life, but what about you? Where are you from?" She grinned. "America, I gathered from the name, but which place?"

"Brooklyn," Steve answered immediately.

She frowned. "City of Brooklyn?"

"No, New York City," Steve corrected. "Brooklyn is the borough I used to live in. Lived there my whole life, actually. Bucky and I."

"How was it?" Diana asked, her feet barely making any noise even when she stepped on dry leaves. "Growing up in Brooklyn, I mean. I imagine it is nothing like Themyscira, if New York is even remotely similar to London."

"No, not like Themyscira at all," Steve answered, chuckling. "Less trees and temples and I'm pretty sure we don't have griffins either."

"Your loss," Diana joked. "Griffins are beautiful. Deadly, but beautiful."

Like you, Steve thought, but managed to shut his mouth just in time. He coughed, regaining his focus.

"New York, and Brooklyn consequently, is like London in the sense that they are big cities made of concrete, full of people and cars and factories… Unlike Themyscira in that sense." He could see Diana's nose twitching in disapproval, so he went in defense of his home. "But Brooklyn was much more than that. Brooklyn was… It was alive. The people are the life of any city and Brooklyn had people from all over. Good hard-working people. It has restaurants that serve any kind of food, stores, clubs that play any kind of music…" He smiled, suddenly remembering something. "And the best milkshake in the world."

"Milkshake?" Diana asked, interested.

"Oh, you would love this, Diana. It's a drink made of ice-cream." Steve laughed at her widening eyes. "Tell you what, after all this, I'll take you there. And then I'll take you to dance. You're going to have to teach me how to do it, though."

"It's a deal!" she agreed immediately.

"And a deal is a promise," Steve added.

"And a promise is unbreakable," Diana finished, smiling wildly.

Steve basked in her happiness for a few moments, then continued speaking.

"Growing up there was nice, I had some very good times, but it was hard," he said. "My mother raised me all by herself and money was always short. She had to work all day and I did what I could to help, so we could have a place to live and food on the table." Steve sighed, remembering his mother. "On the other hand, I at least _had_ a mother who loved me very much and was willing to sacrifice so much for me. And I also had Bucky, so things weren't all bad."

"What happened to your father?" Diana asked, hesitantly.

"My father died before I was born, in the Great War. He was a soldier, a hero, and he was one of the reasons I wanted to become one," Steve said, smiling. "My mother used to tell me about him when I was little and I was very proud of having a father like him, even though I never got to meet him."

She seemed sad for him for a moment, but chose to remain in silence. Diana didn't have a father as well, Steve remembered. Of course, she claimed to never have had one; not in the sense that he died or abandoned her, but in the sense that she was actually born without the need of a father. Not born, he corrected himself, sculpted from clay and given life by Zeus.

Steve thought it was much more likely that Hippolyta got pregnant by accident – or, God forbid, against her will – and chose not to burden Diana with it. He would never say it to her, of course, but even with all the strangeness he witnessed on Themyscira, that seemed more likely than being sculpted from clay.

"I am very sorry for your father, Steve," Diana said, finally. "You deserved to have met him."

He was touched by her kindness.

"It's all right. I wanted to meet him, of course, to have him with us during my life, but at least I had my mother. A good mother."

Diana smiled. "So do I." She turned to him. "Tell me about your mother."

"My mother's name was Sarah, Sarah Rogers. She was… She was kind, Diana, an honest to God good person. She helped anyone she could, no matter what they needed, and she was always there for me even when she was busy." He remembered his mother's blond hair and her blue eyes as she smiled at him. "Times were hard back then, nobody had money and we had even less. And I was a very sickly child, always getting ill. My mom was able to take care of me, to give us a home, to make us happy, even when she had to work all the time." He sighed. "I really miss her."

He felt Diana's hands grabbing his own and he didn't object.

"How did she…"

"TB," Steve answered, getting a frown from Diana in response. "Tuberculosis. A disease that affects the respiratory system. My mother was a nurse in a TB ward, she took care of the sick people there. Thing is, TB is highly contagious. She got hit, couldn't shake it."

Diana squeezed his hand harder. "I'm sorry, Steve. She seemed to be a wonderful person. And a very brave one, to risk her life to care for the sick."

"She was brave," Steve agreed. "Braver than I am."

She smiled at him. "I think you got your lion's share of that, Steve."

Coming from her, that meant a lot. Both of them continued walking in silence, hands still joined, as Diana tracked whatever animal they'd came across. He could see her nose twitching from time to time, smelling the animal not unlike a hound; it was weird, but quite cute.

"We're getting closer. Can you hear it?" Diana asked, excitedly.

For a few minutes, Steve heard absolutely nothing, no matter how much he tried, and he began to grow sceptic that he would. Then, weak at first, he began to hear something.

"I hear it!" he exclaimed, happy to finally find any sign of what they were tracking.

"Shhh!" Diana reprimanded. "Not so loud!"

He shut up immediately, trying to mimic her silent way of walking with limited success. Steve was granted incredible grace by the Super-Soldier Serum, he could do things that normal humans simply couldn't even dream about, but to move without making a sound like Diana was doing was beyond him. Still, he thought he was at least partially successful, because Diana didn't reprimand him again.

They walked through the trees, following the weird sound and at each step the sound grew louder. He had no idea what it was, but it didn't seem particularly big.

Then Diana turned to him, grinning. She pointed up. There, on top of the tree's branches, was a black panther cub.

The sounds they were hearing were the poor attempts of the cub to roar, still too small to be even the least bit threatening. In fact, each time it showed its teeth, it became even more adorable. They watched the animal for a few seconds, marveled by its cuteness, until it became clear that the reason the panther was roaring nonstop was because it couldn't get down.

It was a cat stuck in a tree. A black panther, sure, stuck in a tree big enough to dwarf a building, but the point stood.

"We have to help it," Diana said, walking forward without waiting for his response.

That part of the forest they were in was full of immense roots and the ground was covered in leaves. The trees were _immensely_ tall and broad, as if they had centuries to grow unmolested. There was a cliff a few meters from them, leading to a very high fall and they could clearly hear water falling in great quantities.

Close from them, maybe down the cliff, was a waterfall, no doubt.

Diana ignored all that as she looked up. And without hesitation, she started to climb. Steve wanted to say something, that the cub was cute but it was still a panther and that the tree was really tall, thus unsafe, but he knew by now that those obstacles meant nothing to Diana.

And, if he were honest with himself, they meant nothing to him as well. Those were just "Pre-Serum Steve's" fears whispering on the back of his mind, so he ignored them and started to climb after her, taking great care not to look up, because Diana _was_ wearing a skirt and he was a gentleman.

In no time at all, Diana was at the same large branch the panther cub was, walking upon it as if she was walking on the ground. Steve did the same, albeit a bit slower, not taking his eyes from the panther.

"Calm down, little one, I'm not going to hurt you," Diana said, her voice soothing.

The cub was scared, moving away from them, walking backwards; they stopped, afraid the panther would fall if they continued.

"What do we do?" Steve asked, speaking softly. "Want to try to get it?"

"No need," Diana answered, grabbing the golden lasso around her waist.

Before the cub could move away further, she unleashed the lasso and wrapped it around the little cub; instead of pulling it, however, she just stopped. The Lasso of Hestia began to glow.

"We won't hurt you," she said, as if the animal could understand her. "We are just trying to help."

Surprisingly, the panther stopped moving and became silent, tilting its head slightly, as if it were curious now, instead of afraid.

"Did you just… Talk to an animal?" Steve asked, baffled. "And it understood you?"

Diana laughed. "It did not understand my words, but the Lasso of Hestia helped it to understand my intention. It knows I'm not lying about wanting to hurt it. The Lasso is showing it the truth in what I said."

And just like that, Diana sat down on the branch and opened her arms. The cub, still wrapped in the Lasso, walked to her and plopped on her lap, as a cat would. Steve could swear it was even purring.

"Sit down, Steve," Diana said, happily. "Want to pet this little guy?" She took a look under the panther for a second. "I'm sorry, little girl," she corrected herself and added, laughing softly, "I wonder if Bast was like this as a child."

Still beyond impressed, Steve slowly sat down too, one leg at each side of the branch, behind Diana, making an effort not to touch her and creep her out; which was, of course, meaningless, since she slid back with the cub, leaning her back against his chest.

He thanked God Diana was looking the other way, because he was quite aware his face was scarlet.

Trying not to draw any attention to that fact, Steve moved his arms around her and touched the little panther cub, scratching its ears, trying to ignore the fact that Diana's hair smelled divine. Steve never imagined he would do something like this before.

Sure, maybe his imagination could conjure a scenario where he became a soldier, traveled to a secretly extremely advanced country to fight a battle against HYDRA, leading a highly trained team of which his best friend was part of and, in that place, he got into the woods, climbed a gigantic tree and petted a panther cub.

But do all this a _nd_ sit down closely to a beautiful dame? That pushed the boundaries of his imagination too far.

"I still can't believe this Lasso," Steve remarked, after a minute, still petting the cub. "The way it shows the truth… It's incredible."

"Why, it's Hestia's Symbol of Power, it's supposed to be incredible," Diana said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Symbol of Power?"

She turned her head up; given that she was smaller than him, that meant Diana could glance at his face from upside-down.

"Symbols of Power were, well, symbols of the gods' authority over their domains," she explained. "You know, Zeus' Lightning Bolt, Poseidon's Trident, Athena's Aegis Shield, Ares' Armor, Hephaestus' Flaming Hammer… Hestia's Lasso. Artifacts of immense power, crafted specifically for them and imbued with their power, so they could better control their domains."

Diana traced the golden lasso with her fingers, until her hand got to the little cub and she scratched its tiny head. Steve had no doubt Diana wholeheartedly believed in this, that this artifact actually belonged to a goddess; and honestly, he didn't have a better explanation. Magic, some kind of hyper-advanced technology, like HYDRA's? Maybe.

Perhaps, like Peggy suggested to him the other day after a long talk with Diana, those "gods" Diana spoke of were not "Gods" – capital "G" –, but simply beings they didn't know, with powers they couldn't understand. Not omnipotent entities, simply powerful ones.

Maybe calling them gods was a stretch, then, but it didn't really matter in the end. This was Diana's faith and he liked to hear her speak about it.

"Tell me about Hestia," Steve asked, after a few moments. "I heard you say her name before, I know she is a goddess, but that is all I know."

She smiled, pleased. "Hestia was the oldest child of Cronus and Rhea… Or the youngest, depending how you look at it." She chuckled at Steve's confused expression. "Hestia was the first to be born and the first to be devoured by Cronus, since the Titan feared that his children would grow up to depose him. But she was the last to be… Let's say 'expelled', by Cronus, when Zeus battled the Titan of Time. So she is both the oldest and the youngest."

Diana touched his hand as he petted the small cub. If it was deliberate or not, he didn't know, but she kept her hand over his.

"Cronus had six Olympian children with Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. All incredibly powerful and all responsible for the defeat of the Titan of Time." Steve had no idea Hestia was Zeus' sister; or that Zeus and Hera were actually brother and sister. Greek Gods were weird, but he said nothing, as Diana continued. "Later on, those gods, with the exception of Hades, built what would be known as the Olympian Council, which would grow up to 12 gods. They were the rulers of Olympus and our own world."

She started to count on her fingers.

"Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Athena, Artemis, Apollo and Hermes," Diana said. "They were the original 12 Olympians."

"What about Hades?" Steve asked.

"Hades was the God of the Dead and as such he chose to remain away from the ruling council, to remain neutral and to better care for his many responsibilities," she explained. "Some believed that he was unwelcomed in Olympus, but according to my mother that wasn't true. He simply didn't really care."

Well, given that people died every day, Steve could understand how busy Hades could be.

"That worked out well for everybody until Zeus had another child, Dionysius," Diana continued. "And as a son of the King of Gods, Dionysius wanted a place in the Council. Except there was none, not unless they made a new one."

"Why didn't they?"

Diana shrugged. "I heard a lot of explanations, going from superstition – 13 would be a 'cursed number' – to unwillingness from the Olympian people to change the governing body, since it worked. Honestly, I have no idea. Fact was, they were one throne short and tempers were beginning to boil. So to avoid a confrontation, a conflict between family members, Hestia decided to give her place to Dionysius, even being the oldest child of Cronus and one of the most powerful goddesses in existence."

She smiled, touching the Lasso again.

"Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, family, home and truth. One of the most powerful beings in the universe, but most importantly, one of the kindest. The same way she stepped down from the Olympian Council, giving up her seat in the governing body of the gods without any regret, Hestia also presented her Symbol of Power to my mother, to help her organize a rebellion that freed the Amazons from slavery."

The Lasso of Hestia glowed under her hand, the gold light brightening her expression.

"This was her gift to my people, to save us from the darkest period of our history. And I will always be grateful to her for it."

Steve touched the Lasso as well, feeling the warmth of the rope.

"Did she… perish as well?" Steve asked, uncertain how to phrase that. He simply remembered that Diana told him Ares had killed all gods.

Diana shook her head slowly. "I do not know. Mother believes she was the one who closed off Olympus during the War of the Gods, while the 11 Gods in the Council fought here in this world against Ares. To prevent Ares' evil to contaminate the realm of the gods. But… There really is no way of knowing. Hestia might have succeeded and saved her people and her realm. Or she might have failed and Olympus is now ashes. I truly have no idea."

He could tell this bothered her deeply. Steve wouldn't lie and claim he understood all of this. In fact, he would be the first one to say he understood almost nothing about gods and magic and everything else she was telling him. But to Diana that was all true. Her faith was _so_ strong that she almost made him believe.

And this was hurting her. So without thinking, Steve embraced Diana.

From the way her body froze under his touch, Steve thought for certain that he made a very wrong move, but a second later he felt her relax.

"Thank you," she whispered.

There was no need to say anything in response.

Steve had no idea how long they stayed there, high up in the tree, embraced, with the little panther cub on her lap. He knew only that he felt better than he felt in a long time, lighter, as if her company was capable of easing the worries inside his chest. And he was sure he would've stayed there the rest of the day if she didn't suddenly say:

"Steve, there is one more thing I think you should know about tracking." He frowned as she looked at him with a tiny smile, then turned to the little cub. "Almost always, every time we find a cub in the wild… The mother is not far behind."

His frown deepened as he tried to understand why she was telling him that; that's when he heard a terrifying roar.

"Oh no…"

Perhaps Diana had been as distracted as he was, perhaps she thought it would be funny to give the "mother panther" a head start, Steve didn't know. What he _did_ know is that a black blur appeared out of nowhere and jumped upon them, roaring like a monster.

Steve had a split second to grab his shield and block the attack, the panther's claws ringing loud against the vibranium, and then Diana simply grabbed the cub, turned, embraced him and pushed them both out of the tree.

Before Steve could get his bearings, they were falling from the very high tree, the forest passing in a blur by them; that's when Diana grabbed his arm and forced his hand to grab the lasso. The Lasso she had wrapped around the branch while he blocked the panther.

Everything was happening so fast that Steve could only concentrate in holding Diana and her Lasso, as she held the little cub in her arms, laughing as if this was the funniest thing to ever happen to her. The Lasso suddenly tensed and they moved forward instead of down, but that sudden change didn't hinder Diana's movements as she twisted herself fast enough to place the cub on a branch from which it could go down on its own.

And then, the Lasso somehow got loose and they were in the air, flying towards the cliff. The last thing Steve saw before he started yelling was the huge waterfall and the lake under them.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 17** **th** **, 2010**

Tony checked himself on the mirror, fixing his tie and his hair. Then he simply stared at his reflection for a minute.

It was embarrassing to admit, but he couldn't remember the last time he felt so nervous. There was, of course, the day he escaped his captors in Afghanistan, fighting for his life inside a metal monstrosity, but something about having to kill or die made things simpler. But there wouldn't be a battle today – or at least he hoped so – and nobody's life was at stake.

No, Tony Stark was embarrassed because he was nervous about a date.

Not a true date, sure, but that was what the world would think when he showed up to that party with Diana Prince AKA Godkiller. Maybe he'd rushed things when he invited her to the "Third Annual Benefit for the Firefighters Family Fund", maybe he should've kept this meeting private, but truth was Tony had no idea what he was dealing with.

An enhanced of some kind, that much was obvious, that possessed great power, aged slowly or not at all and had been facing armies and criminals and god knows what else ever since WWII; that he knew of. So he chose to have this meeting in a public place, where she would be compelled to behave as an ordinary human.

He didn't really believe she was a threat to him, not really, otherwise she would've left him in the desert. And he didn't really believe that if she _was_ a threat to him, that something like this would stop her from hurting him; he'd seen some of what she was capable of and it was damn impressive.

But for the first time in his life, he opted for caution. Tony had almost died not long ago, he didn't want a repeat of that.

So a date it was. And it would probably be unlike any date he ever had, all things considered. To begin with, neither of them was trying to "get lucky"; granted, he wouldn't say "no" to a woman that beautiful and he was certain she would be properly amazed at his handsomeness, no doubt about that, but for once that wouldn't be the goal of one of his dates.

Then there was the fact she was some kind of immortal super-powered woman, also a novelty. Apparently she fought during WWII with his own father and the _great_ Captain America and he was certain she had defeated bad guys all over the world.

And she had saved his life.

Tony Stark didn't owe gratitude to a great many deal of people, but he did owe her. Not only because she found him dying in the desert and rescued him, but because she had risked exposure to give him his father's letters, back in 1991, so he could find some peace.

Diana Prince didn't have to do any of that, but she did. Tony wanted to know why.

He also wanted to thank her, true, but first he would ask his questions.

Satisfied with his appearance, Tony turned away from the mirror and walked out of his room. Pepper wasn't, for once, working late, probably already in the party and Happy had a night off. He wondered for a moment if Diana would actually appear or she would simply ignore his invitation, but decided that it was useless to guess. She would either be there or not; either way, he was going.

He went down the stairs and into his lab/garage, already thinking about which car he would take, when Jarvis suddenly spoke.

"Sir, the render is complete," the AI announced, popping up an image of his armor on the screen.

Tony stopped immediately and looked at it: it certainly looked impressive, even if a little showy. But he was almost certain that the new gold-titanium alloy from the Seraphim Tactical Satellite would ensure fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio.

To put it simply, he probably would be able to fly high up without fear of being frozen and falling to his death.

Still, functional or not, a complete golden armor was hurting eyes. He would look like C-3PO wearing that thing.

"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" he asked Jarvis, walking away from the screen.

"What was I thinking, you're usually so discreet," the sassy AI countered.

Tony stopped in front of his cars, deciding which one he would use, only to freeze when his eyes passed over the fiery red, black and yellow painting of one of his classic models.

"Tell you what," he started, still staring at the car, "throw a little hot-rod red in there."

"Yes, that should help you keep a low profile," Jarvis sarcastically agreed. A few seconds passed. "The render is complete."

He looked at the screen again, his eyes widening a bit. _That_ was certainly much better.

"I like it," Tony said. "Fabricate it. Paint it!"

"Commencing automated assembly," Jarvis announced. "Estimated completion time is five hours."

Tony glanced at his watch. Enough time for his "date".

"Don't wait up for me, honey," he said, entering the car.

Hopefully, everything was going to go well.

* * *

 **Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California – April 17** **th** **, 2010**

Reporters, cameras flashing, fans screaming in excitement… Walk through one red carpet and have walked through them all, Tony thought, smiling and waving at the guests present at the Third Annual Benefit for the Firefighters Family Fund.

It was pretty easy to notice no one had expected him to show up.

He almost rolled his eyes. The stories the media managed to make up about him were outlandish on a normal day, but ever since he returned from Afghanistan _and_ shut down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries they'd reached unbelievable levels. Rumors of horrible facial scarring, deformities because of torture, madness, PTSD… Some even believed he wasn't Tony Stark at all, but some kind of shape-shifting alien taking the place of the true Tony Stark, and all this was a plan intended to lower Earth's defenses to be conquered by said aliens.

Honestly, it was fun at the beginning, but things were getting out of hand. Maybe it was a good thing to show up, even if Miss Prince didn't.

Thinking about her, he looked around, discretely trying to see if she was already there, but no luck. What he did see was Obie giving an interview close to the entrance; Obi saw him almost at the same time.

"Hey, look at you," Obie said, obviously shocked at seeing him. "What a surprise. You didn't tell me you would be here."

"Didn't I? I could've sworn I left you a message," Tony answered, greeting him.

"No, no, no… No message... But it's a great thing you're here. We should talk," Obie said.

"Yeah, sure, I'll see you inside," Tony said, not really in the mood for that, not when so much was going on at the time.

The place was nicely decorated and packed with people. Everyone supremely well dressed, some dancing to the soft music, others talking, trying to build connections or simply having a bit of fun. Several head turned to look when he passed, but Tony was too worried and too uninterested to start a meaningless conversation. No, right now, he needed something to calm his nerves.

He stopped by the counter.

"Give me a scotch," he asked the bartender. "I'm starving."

The bartender, dressed in white, smiled politely at his joke and started to prepare his drink.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony turned, looking at the man by his side; well dressed, as everyone was, and apparently very serious, if his expression meant anything. Not anyone he knew, or at least he thought so.

"Agent Coulson," the man introduced himself.

That name rang a bell. "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah… The guy from the, um–"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Agent Coulson completed.

"Wow, you need a new name for that," Tony countered, grabbing his drink.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot," Coulson agreed. "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you. There's still a lot of unanswered questions and time can be a factor with these things. Let's just put something on the books. How about the 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Stark Industries?"

Tony was barely hearing anymore, having spotted something far more interesting on the dance floor: Miss Potts in a blue dress that made his eyes widen. By god, was she always this beautiful?

Without even looking at Coulson, Tony extended his hand to him.

"Tell you what, you got it," he said, as Coulson hesitantly shook his hand. "You're absolutely right. Well, I'm going to go to my assistant and we'll make a date."

And then he left, his eyes never straying from Pepper as he crossed the dance floor.

"You look fantastic!" he said as soon as he arrived. "I didn't recognize you."

Pepper turned to him, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Just avoiding government agents," he answered.

"Are you by yourself?" Pepper asked.

Tony hesitated. "At the moment, yes... Where'd you get that dress?"

She looked down at herself, apparently not noticing his none-too-subtle change of subject. "Oh, it was a birthday present. From you, actually."

"That's great, I got good taste," he joked. "You, um, want to dance?"

"Oh, no, I'm–"

"Come on," Tony grabbed her hand and guided her deeper into the dance floor, ignoring how awkward the usually unwavering Pepper looked.

Truth be told, Tony had idea what he was doing. Hitting on Pepper was something he always did, but both of them knew it was never serious. Despite his reputation, Tony had boundaries and sleeping with an assistant was, too put it simply, a terrible idea.

Not only because it could generate a huge lawsuit down the line, but because he actually respected Pepper; and given the fact that she never fell for his obvious charms, Pepper also respected herself and him.

The real reason Tony never dared to do something like this, however, was because he really cared about Pepper.

She wasn't just a pretty face, just a model or an actress he could pass time with, but someone he genuinely liked. A friend, one of the few he had, and the last thing Tony wanted was to drive her away.

Right now, though, after barely escaping with his life from those terrorists, those fears didn't seem to matter all that much.

They started to dance, slowly, and Pepper was the very picture of flustered.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked, with a confidence he didn't really feel.

"No, no, I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss," Pepper retorted, "in front of everyone that I work with, in a dress with no back."

Tony lightly touched the naked patch of her back, smiling.

"You look great and you smell great."

"Oh, God…"

"But I could fire you if that would take the edge off," he jokingly suggested.

"I actually don't think that you could tie your shoes without me," she said, defiantly.

"I'd make it a week," he bragged.

"Really? What's your Social Security number?" Pepper challenged.

He hesitated, thinking; she raised a single eyebrow. "Five."

"Five? You're missing a couple of digits there."

"The other eight? Well, I got you for the other eight."

He looked at her and dared her to say otherwise. To his relief, she didn't.

They danced for a few minutes, without saying anything else, just enjoying the moment, whatever that meant.

"What about some air?" he offered.

"Yes, I need some air," Pepper agreed immediately.

* * *

Diana stopped the car in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall and took a deep breath.

This was a bad idea, she was sure of it. What was she even doing there? What was she going to say? That her name was Diana and she was a goddess? That she fought with Howard Stark and Captain America during WWII? That she killed Ares, the God of War, son of Zeus and her half-brother? That she was Tony's godmother?

According to Peggy, yes, that was exactly what she should say. Diana was of the opinion that if she said all that, Tony would run away very fast.

He apparently knew she was older than she looked. And he also knew she was stronger than she looked. He knew she had been present during WWII and probably met his father during that time and he also knew that she was the one who rescued him from the deserts of Afghanistan.

Those were facts; Starks were good with facts, no matter how outlandish. It was when the conversation shifted to theories that they usually started to question things.

If Diana said she was absurdly strong _and_ proved it, then Tony – if he behaved anything like his father – would accept it. If she told him she was old enough to have fought during WWII and provided evidence – or in this case, _he_ was the one to provide it –, then he would believe her. He would probably question why and how, try to search for a viable reason, but he would believe as long as there was proof.

The minute she started explaining _why_ she was the way she was, then things would get out of hand, just as they did with Howard.

Diana exhaled, closing her eyes. She could just imagine how difficult this night would be. But she was there now and there was no point going back. So, taking a deep breath again, Diana left the car.

* * *

"That was totally weird," Pepper announced.

Tony, standing in front of her on the balcony, disagreed. "Totally harmless."

"It was totally _not_ harmless, by the way, we–"

"We're dancing," Tony interrupted, "no one's even watching."

"Everybody who I work with… No, you know why?"

"I think you lost objectivity," Tony said, before she could go on. "I think they just… People… We just danced!"

"No, it was not just a dance! You don't understand because you're you! And everybody knows exactly who you are and how you're with girls and all of that, which is completely fine, but you know, then _me_ , you're my boss and I'm dancing with you."

Tony just waited Pepper to get it out of her system, which came in the form of a barely coherent phrase, but whatever.

"I really don't think it was taken that way," he argued.

"It makes _me_ look like the one who's trying to–"

"I just think you're overstating it."

"And then we're here and I'm wearing this ridiculous dress," Pepper continued, not even hearing him, "and then we were dancing like that and…"

Pepper stared in his eyes and forgot what she was going to say; Tony, for once, didn't have anything smart to say either. She leaned forward, her lips so close to his…

Then she stopped. And pulled her head back.

"I would like a drink," she said, suddenly.

"Got it, okay," Tony nodded, moving away immediately.

He didn't remember the last time he felt so confused.

"I would like a vodka martini, please," Pepper added.

"Okay."

"Very dry, with olives, a lot of olives. Like, at least three olives."

"Okay."

"You know what, you'll get it wrong, I'm going with you."

"Okay."

What else was he supposed to say?

* * *

Pepper was pretty sure she was close to hyperventilating. What had she done?! What she was doing? Dancing with Tony? Allowing him to flirt with her? Flirt back? In the middle of a company party?

For so long Pepper didn't allow herself to even look at Tony in a non-professional way, because she knew exactly where that would lead: a one-night stand and a ruined career.

It was hard not to. Not because Tony was famous, rich and handsome, Pepper wasn't after that, but because, against all odds, he ended up becoming her friend. Against all odds, Tony had actually warmed his way into her heart. They bantered, they joked, they talked… He was one of the few people that could get her sense of humor, that could engage her in a battle of wit simply because he thought it was fun.

He had flaws – God above, did he have them – but that didn't make Pepper like him any less. She knew that if she allowed herself, she would fall _hard_ for him.

The thing was: should she? Should she risk her career, her dignity and her friendship?

Before Pepper could answer that, before they could even get to the counter and order a martini with a whole bucket of olives on the side, a small commotion grabbed their attention. She and Tony turned to look at the entrance, trying to pinpoint what exactly had everyone whispering, why everyone was so interested.

A second later, Pepper saw why; her jaw was agape for a moment.

Pepper was straight. She liked men and she never had the sudden curiosity to experiment _anything_ different. But by God, the woman who had just entered the hall was simply beyond gorgeous. She wasn't unused to above-average beauty; Pepper herself, she would admit freely, was very beautiful and Tony paraded up and down with the most beautiful models and actresses in the world.

She could say, without a single shred of doubt, that the woman entering the hall put them all to shame.

Long dark hair, blue eyes, a figure that made Pepper – and would make any woman in the world – jealous and a face that seemed sculpted by angels. She was wearing a stunning blood-red long dress, with no back just like hers, silver heels and what seemed to be bracelets on her arms, going from wrists to her elbows; fashion wise they were a bit uncommon, but Pepper doubted anything that woman wore could look bad.

Pepper was not a petty person, but she would admit that she was a tiny bit envious of that woman's beauty for a moment.

"Who is that?" she whispered to Tony.

Tony, looking everywhere except to her, swallowed hard.

"She is, um, she is my plus one."

"She is _what_?!"

* * *

Diana entered the hall trying to control her nerves; as any well-trained Amazon, her face betrayed nothing of what she was feeling, but that didn't mean her heart wasn't pounding her chest hard. She barely noticed the people in the room, walking through them without even glancing to the sides.

Until her eyes finally located her quarry. Tony Stark stared back at her. There wasn't a way to escape anymore.

Ignoring her nervousness, Diana made a straight line to him, keenly aware that he and everybody else was following her with their eyes. Attention never bothered her before, she was pretty much forced to get used to it being a Princess and inheriting her mother's good-looks – with a little touch from Aphrodite's blessing, or so her mother would brag, and her own Olympian blood –, but at that moment her legs felt heavy.

Tony didn't move, looking at her like a deer caught in the headlights; not impressed by her, she noticed, but actually frozen. Maybe she wasn't the only one nervous, Diana thought.

And finally, after a few seconds that felt like minutes, Diana stopped in front of him.

"A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Stark," Diana greeted, nodding.

There was a second of silence, until a pretty redhead by his side elbowed his ribs.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Prince," Tony answered, wincing a bit from the hit.

None of them knew what to say anymore.

* * *

Tony was, once again, having difficulty finding his voice. Diana Prince was there, she really had appeared; he was expecting her to, of course, but now that she was there he didn't know what to do. The Godkiller, Wonder Woman, the one who saved his life, his father's friend… And whatever additional titles she might have.

He remembered her face from the time she delivered those letters and a bit from when she saved him in the desert, but it was still weird as hell seeing her in person.

Pepper elbowed him again, a touch stronger than she needed, Tony thought; then his mind finally kickstarted again.

"Oh, I'm sorry! This is Pepper Potts, my… assistant," he introduced her, not exactly knowing _how_ to do it.

Tony was pretty sure Pepper wouldn't have liked to be introduced as anything else, but by the quick frown on her face, he somehow might've made a mistake.

"And Pepper, this is Diana Prince," he continued, looking at Miss Prince. "She was, um, an old acquaintance of my father."

He withheld a wince when he heard his own words; he knew well how that must have sounded.

"I was a friend of his old butler, Jarvis," Diana corrected, no doubt trying to clean up his mess. Smiling, she shook Pepper's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Potts."

"The pleasure is mine," Pepper answered, politely, but he knew her well enough to know she wasn't being that honest. She glanced at him. "You had a butler named Jarvis? Really?"

"He did… Why is that surprising?" Diana asked, not understanding why Pepper was questioning that.

Tony sighed. "It's just a coincidence, really. I did have a butler named Jarvis, that's true, and Pepper is surprised because right now I have an AI that manages my house called 'Just A Rather Very Intelligent System'."

There was a second of silence.

"So… He's called Jarvis," Diana said, slowly.

"No, no, it's J.A.R.V.I.S," Tony corrected. "It's an acronym. No relation with the name."

"Right, my mistake," Diana deadpanned, as Pepper rolled her eyes.

And then there was silence again. Nobody said anything, nobody knew what to say, everybody was looking at them and none of them dared to look for too long at each other.

"I'm going to… Go over there," Pepper said, suddenly, already walking away. "It's been a pleasure, Miss Prince."

Just like that, Pepper was gone; Tony sighed, guessing why exactly she was so bothered. In her mind, he had just hit on her while he waited for his date to arrive. Not that Tony never did something like that before, because he did, but he would never do that to Pepper.

How precisely would he explain that to her, though?

He glanced back at Diana, uncomfortable, barely even registering her beauty, something that would be his main focus on any other day.

"So… I think we should talk," he started. "Want to go to the balcony?"

"Let's," she agreed right away, probably wanting to get away from all those nosy people.

* * *

There were too many things to notice, Diana mused. First, Tony was as nervous as she was, unlike any time she'd seen him on TV or unlike anything she heard about him. Second, Pepper Potts, Tony's assistant, liked him and Tony clearly liked her. Third, Pepper Potts _didn't_ like her, probably imagining she was trying to steal Tony's affections.

She made a frown of displeasure at the thought for a moment; Diana would have to fix that assumption as soon as she could.

No time for that now, however, as she followed Tony to the balcony, where they could talk with a semblance of privacy. Still in silence, walking a few feet in front of her, Tony led the way, both of them ignoring the interested looks everybody sent them; having a hearing as good as she did, she could tell for a fact that people were already gossiping about "Tony's latest conquest".

Diana tried not to let that bother her.

The balcony was big and open and the night wind felt nice. Tony walked to the most distant side of it, far from anywhere there, and stopped. Only then, he looked at her. Diana was shocked for a moment about how much he reminded her of Howard at that moment. He had traces of his mother on his face, but he was almost all Howard, down to the intelligent, inquisitive eyes.

If he had a mustache, like his dad, Diana would've been a little startled.

"So… We meet again," Tony began, awkwardly, but trying to sound confident.

"So it seems," Diana answered, just as awkwardly. She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit… You surprised me with this invitation."

He raised a single eyebrow. "Well, I was quite surprised when I found that photo too," he admitted. "Especially since I remembered you from the funeral and from the desert… Thanks for that, by the way."

"You're welcome," Diana said, slowly.

"For both of them, actually," Tony added, hesitantly. "The desert, of course, but the letters too."

"Did they help?" she asked.

Tony didn't answer right away.

"They did." And that was all he said about that. There were a few seconds of silence, while both of them leaned against the wall, looking down on the passing cars. Then he turned to her. "I have questions."

Diana sighed again. "I imagined you would."

"Will you answer them?" he insisted.

"If I can. I want to ask something first." She looked right in his eyes. "I want to know what you'll do with these answers."

"What do you mean?" he asked, frowning.

"As you can imagine, I don't go out advertising my situation," Diana said. "I like a quiet life. Depending on what you do with the things you hear today, this quietness may end."

He grinned, but the smile didn't reach his eyes; he was worried. "Is this a subtle way of telling me you'll have my head if I babble?"

Diana didn't realize she grabbed his hand until it was done.

"I would _never_ hurt you!" she exclaimed, shocking him with the force she put on her words. Noticing she was holding his hand, she let him go, but didn't back away, nor did she stop staring at him. "Tony, your father was like a brother to me. We fought together, we lost together, we won together. We had our disagreements after the war, but I never stopped loving him. And on the day you were born, I was the first person he called to tell."

She lifted both her hands, showing them to Tony.

"I held you when you were a little baby," Diana told him, seeing his eyes widening. "And even with all our differences, he made me your godmother."

"What?!" he exclaimed, but she went on.

"But you are more than just my godson, more than the son of a man I called brother. You were a symbol of hope that we could, Howard and I, be friends again, try to be as close as we once were." She took Tony's hand again. "So no, I am not threatening you. Never. But I ask you to be honest with me. If you intend to share what I tell you today, then tell me now."

Tony was looking at her with his jaw agape; then he shook his head.

"I'm not some stupid teenager wanting his 15 minutes of fame!" he argued. "What do you think I'm gonna do? Call the newspapers?" Tony rolled his eyes. "They're already saying I have PTSD because of what I did to the company, can you imagine what they'll say if I start claiming that a curator of the Smithsonian fought during WWII and actually saved me from dying on the desert? Who the hell would believe me anyway?"

"You would be surprised," Diana sighed, feeling relief flooding her. "But I get it."

"Look, I just want to know who you are," Tony said. " _What_ you are. And why you helped me. I'm not going to go around telling people and, honestly, if you don't want to tell me, then don't. I'm the one who owe you, not the other way around."

"You don't owe me anything," Diana retorted.

"Look, I don't like admitting it either, but I kinda do," Tony said, putting his foot down.

"You don't owe me anything," Diana repeated. "We're family, we're supposed to look after each other."

Tony didn't know what to answer to that, that much was clear. But he didn't contradict her. Instead, he looked down for a moment, then back at her.

"How… How can you do the things you do?" he asked. "I'll go out on a limb here, but you're not the average person, are you? Are you a mutant? A Super-Soldier?"

Diana exhaled; there was the moment she was dreading. "What do you know about Greek mythology?"

He raised his eyebrows, but answered: "Quite a lot, I'd say." He frowned as Diana looked surprised. "Weird that you should ask this. My father used to tell me about Greek mythology all the time when I was little. It was one of the few things we bonded over. That and Captain America's stories, but those I didn't like that much."

Diana didn't know why he spoke about Steve with such venom, but right now she didn't think to ask.

"Why do you ask?"

She looked at him, taking a moment to decide if she actually would go through with this.

"You asked me how I can do the things I do," Diana started, hesitantly. She took a deep breath and decided to just rip the band-aid off. "I am half-Amazon, daughter of Hippolyta, and half-Olympian, daughter of Zeus."

This time, Tony really was in silence for a long time, his shocked face frozen.

"You actually believe you're the daughter of a Greek god?" Tony answered, slowly, almost a minute later. He looked worried for her.

Diana almost laughed at how much he reminded her of Howard at that moment; then she felt a pang on her chest.

"I don't believe it, I know," she said with certainty, calmly meeting his eyes. "And your father knew as well."

That cut his reply short, as he actually choked on what he was about to say.

"My father believed this?" Tony asked, sceptic. "That you're a goddess? Or a demigoddess, is that the right term? _My father_ , Howard Stark, the most rational man I ever met?"

"He did," Diana confirmed. "That should tell you something, shouldn't it?"

He closed his mouth again, surprised by her answer. He looked down at the cars, eyes unfocused, as he tried to make sense of all this.

"How did you make him believe you?"

"It wasn't easy," she admitted, with a touch of frustration, "but when I presented him with irrefutable proof, he had no counter-argument."

"What proof?" Tony asked, fast.

Diana grinned. "I showed him a god. Ares, the God of War, the true responsible for most horrors that happened during WWII. And then I killed him."

Again, Tony Stark lost his voice completely.

She took another long breath; this would be one hell of a conversation.

"It all began in 1944…"

* * *

 **Wakanda – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Steve turned his boot upside down, throwing out all the water from the lake he had just came out of. He was drenched to the bones, cold and uncomfortable, but he guessed they should be thankful that they landed on the lake, because the fall they took was quite long; looking up, Steve could see the cliff they'd just fell from, with the immense trees on top of it.

The place was beautiful, though, he wouldn't deny it.

An almost perfectly round lake, with a breathtaking waterfall, the crystalline water falling in large quantities. It was surrounded by the large stone walls of the mountains, full of flower bushes and emerald grass and the sun could shine flawlessly upon all that, making everything glow; rainbows formed when the light touched the water particles, making everything even more beautiful.

They could've landed on a much worse place, Steve admitted.

Still shaking his boot, trying to dry it as best as he could, Steve turned to see if Diana was having the same dubious success with her wet clothes as he was. And when he did so, his eyes bulged out like saucers.

Diana wasn't having the same problem with her clothes simply because she wasn't wearing any.

Steve knew he wasn't supposed to look. He knew that as the gentleman he was, the gentleman Sarah Rogers raised, he should've turned the moment he noticed that. Steve knew all that. And yet, the truth was he was frozen in place. He couldn't move even if he tried and the order to attempt to try simply wasn't processed inside his brain.

He didn't _want_ to stop looking.

She was just too beautiful. With her back turned to him, Steve could see every inch of her lovely skin, glistening under the sun, almost glowing as if it were made of precious stones. Every curve of her body, every strand of her long dark hair, every drop of water slowly tracing their way down her legs.

At that moment, Steve truly believed she had been sculpted by the gods.

Then, while he was still paralyzed in the same spot, his eyes unable to look elsewhere, Diana looked at him, turning her body slightly; there was no surprise in her eyes, no shock at being spied on, no outrage. No, what he saw in her eyes was an invitation.

"Let's swim, Steve," Diana smiled. And before he could answer, she dived into the lake.

Steve remained right where he was, still petrified, his mind as unresponsive as his body.

And before he could rationalize this, think too much, he started to move as if ordered by a higher power, undressing faster than he ever did in his entire life.

He had no idea what he was doing when he jumped after her.

* * *

She had no idea what she was doing when she jumped in the lake.

This was different, Diana knew. Nudity wasn't taboo to Amazons, the naked form was no different to her than a covered body; yet, she knew that what she was doing right now was not the same. Baring herself to Steve at that moment was a conscious act, brought forth not out of habit, but out of choice.

Diana wanted Steve to want her. As much as she wanted him.

She listened and felt the waters when Steve jumped, her heart beating so fast that it hurt. For all her years, all her lovers, Diana was still completely inexperienced when it came to love. And she had no doubt now that it was love that she was feeling. Slowly, her feet moving softly to keep her floating, Diana turned.

Steve's head was the only part of his body she could see, but the expression on his face made her heart beat even faster. He was flushed, no doubt as nervous and embarrassed as she was, but his eyes spoke of certainty. Desire was reflected in his eyes and for a second Diana felt _proud_.

What grabbed her attention, however, wasn't the lust: it was the love.

Diana could see it, clearly, almost as if it had taken physical form. She could feel it radiating from him and she basked on the emotion. At that moment, she knew that he felt the same way she did.

They swam slowly, their eyes never straying, moving towards one another until they finally met in the middle of the lake. The sound of the waterfall was incredible and the water was shining under the sun, rainbows forming over the lake. Birds were singing in the distance. Diana didn't notice any of that, all her attention was on Steve.

Tentatively, she touched him, feeling the muscles on his arms, sensing the heat of his skin. Slowly, he did the same, his fingers caressing her belly, making her shiver as his hands went up until he cupped her face.

"I love you," Steve breathed.

Amazons were created to bring love into the world and they could feel it like no other being. What Diana was feeling at that moment couldn't be put into words.

So she answered with a kiss. Diana never felt so complete in her life.

* * *

 **Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California – April 17** **th** **, 2010**

Tony was pretty sure his jaw was hanging open and try as he might he couldn't close it. Whatever he expected Diana Prince to tell him that night, _that_ wasn't it.

Being a super-powerful, super-old woman that met his father during WWII was, apparently, not enough. Oh, no, Diana went beyond that, far beyond. According to her, her abilities were due to her lineage, being simultaneously daughter of the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta, and the King of the Gods, Zeus.

The WWII? _Much_ worse than everybody knew, as if Hitler and HYDRA weren't bad enough. For it wasn't merely a war among humans, but the culmination of a war among gods that killed countless people – mortals and immortals – across history.

A war that ended when Diana killed her half-brother, Ares, the God of War.

That was where she met his father and came to love him as a brother, thrown from life in an almost literal paradise into the worst war mankind ever fought. She fought alongside Captain America and the Howling Commandos and thrived until HYDRA was defeated and War itself was slain.

Except Ares' death didn't end War, as Tony knew well.

If this was true, if he decided to believe her despite all those outlandish claims, Tony could find it in his heart room to pity her. He couldn't imagine the despair she must've felt when she accomplished her mission, but that mission didn't accomplish what she thought it would. No ever-lasting peace, no brotherhood amongst men, no end to all wars.

Instead, what followed was the terrifying Cold War, when every moment could potentially be Earth's last. Previous allies became enemies, super-powered nations geared for war, nuclear bombs were distributed across the world… Her friends – her _family_ – were tossed in the middle of a war where good and bad was no longer easy to spot and hard, terrible decisions had to be taken for the sake of surviving.

For the first time, she saw the worst of humanity and she couldn't blame an evil god for it.

Tony sighed, his eyes still wide and his powerful brain working overtime to process everything she told him. This couldn't be true, it wasn't possible. The very idea that gods existed would change… It would change everything they knew about the world. Their history, their origins, the very laws of physics… _Everything_.

Including his own family history. His father's history.

He looked at her.

"You know how crazy this sounds, don't you?" Tony breathed. "You can grasp that concept, right?"

Instead of being upset or insist this was indeed the truth, Diana laughed softly; she glanced at his face.

"You have no idea how you remind me of Howard right now," she said, looking at him fondly.

Yeah, he still wasn't used to that. People simply didn't look at him like that, like they knew him… Like family.

Yet somehow, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

"Howard could find explanations for everything," Diana continued, looking at the cars passing in the street. "It was frustrating like you wouldn't imagine." She looked at him. "But I understand now. He was a scientist, he didn't accept things without proof and you're no doubt the same. So tell me, Mr. Stark, what would it take for you to even consider that what I told you is true? Hmm? A blood sample? A demonstration of my abilities?"

"That wouldn't work," he answered immediately. "You're different, I already know that. The fact that you're strong and fast doesn't mean you're a goddess, it just means you're strong and fast. The fact that I can't explain a phenomenon doesn't automatically make that phenomenon an act of god." Tony thought for a moment. "And the blood… Well, I won't lie, I'm curious to see it, but I don't have a 'god-DNA database' to run a comparison. It would no doubt be different than a normal human, but so would a mutant's or an enhanced of some kind. It wouldn't prove anything."

"So what do you need?" Diana asked. "Name it."

"Usually I would say for you to show me a god," he started, "but I suspect you would answer that I'm already in the presence of one." She smiled as he considered his choices; Tony stared at her. "Take me to Olympus."

"Impossible," Diana answered and before Tony could open his mouth to accuse her of not cooperating, she continued. "The only gateway I know of was sealed during the War of the Gods. And I haven't the coordinates or a suitable vehicle to take us there."

Tony frowned, confused. "Mount Olympus is in Greece," he retorted, as if it were obvious. "I can take us there."

" _Mount_ Olympus is, not Olympus," Diana corrected him. "Mount Olympus was simply where the gateway was located, named, of course, in honor of Olympus itself. But as I said, it is sealed. I cannot even reach it, it is behind a protective barrier." She looked up, to the sky. "The true Olympus is located there, amongst the stars."

He ignored the bit about a gateway and a barrier for the moment.

"Wait a second, Olympus is a planet?!" he exclaimed. "Now you're telling me the Greek gods are actually aliens? You're an alien?!"

She raised a single eyebrow, as if considering her answer. "Well, I was born here, in this planet, as was my mother, but I suppose Zeus could be considered an alien. So, perhaps a half-alien? Does it matter if I was born here or I'm automatically an alien if I descend from one? I do not know."

The carefree way she responded that ground-shattering question – one that could change the very status of humanity in the universe – unnerved him.

"If they're aliens, why the hell are you calling them gods?" Tony exclaimed.

Diana looked at him. "What did Howard tell you about the Olympians, Tony? Did he tell you that they were all-powerful and all-knowing? Or that they were powerful beings that walked among humanity, wise and strong, but flawed?"

He nodded at the last description, too interested to say anything.

"The Olympians were gods to some, but that is a matter of perspective," Diana continued. "They were flesh and blood, like you and I, but powerful and old and they helped humanity when mankind was young. If it will help your modern sensibilities, you may refer to them as aliens, it matters little. They are what they are."

Things were going better and better, he thought, ironically. First gods, now aliens? Though her explanation did make things a bit more plausible than a bunch of mythological creatures and gods interacting with humanity. While Tony would outright deny the existence of any god, of any religion, as a matter of principle – unless those claims were properly backed by proof –, aliens could very well exist.

In fact, given the size of the universe – potentially infinite –, the existence of life, intelligent or otherwise, outside Earth was pretty much certain. And maybe, as Diana told him, some of those alien civilizations had interacted with primitive humans, who in turn thought they had to be gods.

It was a stretch, but it did make it easier for Tony to accept all this if he looked at it that way.

"Well, I suppose this could explain things," Tony mumbled, deep in thought. "Extremely advanced civilization arrives on Earth, humans see their technology and conclude it's all magic and gods. Then things escalate, as they usually do when it comes to gossip. A guy here invents a story, tells it to others and these others make up their own versions and tell it to other people… Suddenly we have a whole bunch of weird tales about a white-bearded guy who liked to summon storms and to turn into a goose to sleep with women."

Diana choked on nothing but air when he said that, coughing desperately for a few seconds.

"Well, actually," Diana started, hesitantly, still a bit flushed for some reason, "a lot of those 'weird tales' actually happened… Not the one with the goose, thank the gods, but there were some pretty fantastic ones that are true."

Tony could only stare at her, unable to say a single thing in response. Well, there went his rationalization, he was back to square one.

"As for the matter of providing proof," Diana hurried to say, a pensive expression on her face, "I may have an idea. I was searching for something, it would actually be my next expedition, and if I'm right I will find something quite _mythological_ there. Something not even a Stark could doubt."

He leaned closer. "That would have to be one heck of a find. It's not a fossilized goose, is it?"

"No!" she exclaimed, then shook her head a bit. "I'll let you know when I have more information," Diana said, mysteriously. Then, after a few seconds, she grinned. "Now, I have some questions as well, if you don't mind. Starting with that armor I saw you wearing when you made your escape." Her eyes went down to his chest. "And I also want to know about the arc reactor you finally completed."

His head snapped fast at her when she said that. "You know about the arc reactor?"

She nodded. "I've seen the first sketches your father made. I also saw the object of which he got inspiration from. But he was never able to finish it. You did it." Diana stared at him. "Inside a cave, surrounded by terrorists."

Tony's eyes became glassy as he remembered his days in captivity.

"I had no option," he finally said. "I needed it to survive."

"The shrapnel," she said, startling him. "I saw the medical reports."

"How?"

"I have friends in high places too, Tony."

"Well, anyway… The shrapnel were part of it, of course, but I needed the arc reactor for something else: to power-up my armor, so I could get out of there."

She looked at him, impressed.

"How did you do this all by yourself?"

"I wasn't by myself, I had help," Tony corrected her, immediately. "There was a man sharing the cell with me, a man named Yinsen." He shook his head with a disregard he didn't feel. "He didn't make it."

"I am sorry," Diana said, sincerely, somehow understanding.

Tony had no idea why he was telling her this; he hadn't told anyone about Yinsen yet. During the debriefings he mentioned he wasn't alone and that the man didn't make it, but that was it. No names, no motivation, nothing else.

And yet something about Diana made him comfortable enough to share this, even if to just let it out of his chest.

"They wanted me to build weapons for them," Tony caught himself saying. "To teach them how to make my latest creation, the Jericho Missile." He shook his head. "I couldn't do it. Not because I knew they would kill me as soon as they didn't need me, though that obviously played an important part in my decision, but because… The idea of a powerful thing like that in their hands was, well, not great."

He pointed at his own chest.

"The shrapnel that are constantly trying to kill me? Stark Industries' property. I forged the sword that almost killed me and I saw it being used to kill innocents, not to protect my homeland. I saw it in the hands of the terrorists that almost killed me. I couldn't let that happen."

And he didn't mean only the Jericho Missile they wanted, he meant every Stark weapon ever made. His legacy, his name written on the bombs that killed innocents all over the world… Call him a hypocrite or even an idiot, but it took him almost dying to realize he was not okay with that.

"Your father was a great man," Diana started, speaking softly, "and a great friend, but the idea of stopping to build weapons never even crossed his mind. I am glad it crossed yours and that you were brave enough to do it. I'm proud of you and I'm sure your parents would be too, even Howard."

He stared at her for a long minute.

"You know, this was the first time anyone told me this ever since I did it," he admitted. "Not even Pepper… No one was very happy about this."

"Even the more reason to call it bravery," Diana said. "I believe you will succeed, Tony, and I'll be here if you need help."

Tony didn't answer, uncomfortable – but strangely touched – by the gesture.

"So…" Diana began, smiling slyly. "Pepper, huh?"

He forced himself to be impassive. "What about her?"

"You like her."

"Of course I like her, she's the best assistant I ever–"

"You like, _like_ her," Diana insisted, still smiling. "Is this a recent development?"

Tony just kept staring at her, for some reason feeling like a boy being teased by his mother because of his first crush.

"I need a drink," he stated, turning around.

"I'll go with you!" Diana replied immediately.

* * *

Tony really did need a drink, if the way he was downing all that scotch meant anything; Diana could only hope he had inherited his father's powerful liver.

The party was still pretty much the same as when they left, if a bit livelier, now that everyone had the change to introduce themselves and drink a bit. People were still looking at her and at Tony nonstop, no doubt imagining a sordid story of some sort, but no one dared to approach either of them to actually ask anything.

Nursing her glass of champagne while she observed the dance floor, Diana soon spotted Miss Potts dancing, talking with two other people she didn't know. She raised a single eyebrow; well, no time like the present to fix misunderstandings.

Purposeful, Diana crossed the dance floor, her eyes never leaving the redhead. Tony, much like Howard, had a reputation with women that put some ludicrous tabloids to shame; and in Howard's case, Diana knew it to be mostly true. He was a womanizing jerk for a long time, Peggy could attest to that.

Until he met Maria. She hoped Pepper Potts would come to mean the same to Tony as Maria did to Howard.

Noticing her approach, Pepper startled for a moment, clearly divided between running and hiding; Diana was a little offended, but she tried not to take it personally. Smiling, she got close enough to whisper: "May I have a word with you, Miss Potts?"

If the expression she quickly concealed was a reflection of the truth, the last thing Pepper Potts wanted to do in her life was go with Diana, but she didn't exactly have much of a choice if she wanted to remain polite. Excusing herself, she followed Diana to a nearby table, empty, as most people danced.

"Can I help you with something, Miss Prince?" Pepper asked, exceedingly polite. Diana held a sigh; Pepper really didn't like her.

Best to be direct.

"I wanted to make something clear to you, Miss Potts, so there are no misunderstandings," Diana started. The loud music and their slight isolation made sure they weren't overheard. "There is absolutely _nothing_ between me and Tony."

Pepper was clearly not expecting this, because she widened her eyes, unable to mask her surprise in time.

As soon as her surprise faded, she looked at Diana, eyes hard.

"Whatever happens between Mr. Stark and you is not my business, Miss Prince," she replied. "I'm just his assistant."

Diana held her eyes without faltering.

"No, you're not," she said, making it very clear. "He likes you and you like him." Pepper opened her mouth to say something, but Diana raised a hand and stopped her. "If you decide or not to be in a relationship is your problem, your and Tony's, but I want you to know that I am not involved, in any way, with him. I'm here today because I needed to discuss a personal matter, not as a date, despite what these people like to gossip."

Pepper simply stared at her, completely serious.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Because whatever you have going on, you deserve a chance. And I do not want it to end because of a stupid misunderstanding. Tony and I were never involved and will never be involved. I want you to know that."

She looked down for a moment, then chuckled. "I appreciate the thought, really, but… It's unnecessary. What happened today was a bad idea."

"Why?" Diana asked, truly wanting to hear her answer.

"I work for him, he is a famous womanizer and I'm not sure he even wants anything to do with me," Pepper answered, tiredly. "Pick one."

Diana got closer, touching her arm. "People can change, Miss Potts, especially when they go through a potential life-threatening situation. Or do you think old-Tony would ever stop making weapons?" She smiled kindly at her. "Life shapes us in unexpected ways. Do you think he is the same man he always was?"

She appeared to think for a moment, then answered, her voice very low: "No, he's not. But that doesn't mean it would work between us. Or that his change of heart won't be short-lived."

"Nothing is certain," Diana agreed, "but if you have a chance to be happy, why not take it?"

Pepper glanced at her, clearly considering if she should answer.

"Because the risk is too big," Pepper replied, giving a tiny smile in response. "I could lose my job, ruin my career… Get hurt." She eyed Diana. "And let's face it, he hardly has to try to find someone more interesting," she finished, gesturing in Diana's direction.

"Don't ever say you're not worth it," Diana reprimanded, startling her for a moment. "He likes you and I hardly think he does it for no reason. You've captured his heart." She eyed Pepper. "And I can see why he follows you with his eyes across the dance floor."

Prompted by what she said, Pepper glanced at the bar, seeing Tony looking at her.

"He's probably looking at you," Pepper said, embarrassed.

Diana sighed. How exactly could she convey the idea that she had absolutely no interest in dating Tony, without mentioning he was her godson or that she had changed his diapers? Pepper was feeling insecure and if Diana decided to befriend Tony, then that meant they would spend more time together, which would make her even more insecure.

This way, things would go nowhere.

She raised a single eyebrow. Unless…

"Pepper, do you know why I know Tony finds you beautiful?" Diana asked, whispering in her ear. "Because _I_ do too." Pepper was astonished, looking at her in surprise. "Let me put it this way, if I had to choose between dancing with one of you, it wouldn't be him."

Pepper blushed like only a redhead could, her entire face growing the same color as her hair.

"So when I say you have nothing to worry about with us," Diana continued, "know that I'm telling the truth."

"I-I, um, thank you, Miss Prince," Pepper stammered.

"Call me Diana," Diana asked, smiling. Then she looked at Tony, besides the bar. "Go drink something, I think you need it."

Pepper followed her eyes, stopping at Tony by the counter. She smiled.

"I think I do," she agreed, "Thank you, Diana. And call me Pepper."

Well, mess fixed. Or at least she hoped.

* * *

Obadiah Stane was feeling out of the loop and for a man who had the need to control everything and everyone, that wasn't a good feeling. He glanced at Stark, happily dancing with his assistant – a lawsuit waiting to happen, he could already see it –, and frowned. He was the one responsible for this whole mess. Couldn't he have died like a good little boy?

No, that would be easy and Starks didn't do easy. They thrived in making everything complicated for everyone. The boy was even worse than his father. With Howard, Stane could deal; stubborn or not, he had his head exactly where it should be, in the business. No sentimentality, no wasted time.

In that, Tony Stark and Howard Stark were not the same, as he had proved with his idiotic announcement that Stark Industries would no longer build weapons.

Things were changing faster than he could keep track of. The Tony Stark that came back was not the same Tony Stark he tried to kill, that much was obvious. Inch by inch, Stane was losing ground, pushed away from golden goose, and he didn't know how to fix this.

Tony wouldn't share his ideas, he wouldn't talk to him as he used to, wouldn't trust him to steer the company in the right direction, to the point Stane had no idea what was going on in his head anymore.

That was dangerous.

This party, for example? It was intended to be an opportunity for him to get the board on his side again, to try to low the support the boy had, so he could eventually try to push him out. He never expected him to show up, not to a boring meeting like this. And yet, against all he knew about Tony, there he was.

And he apparently brought someone. Someone he didn't know.

Stane eyed Tony's date for a moment, standing by the bar, giving her a once-over. Well, as far as beauty went, she seemed to fit what he knew about the boy's dates; he always had good taste when it came to women, that much he would admit.

The problem was, Stane had no idea who she was. He carefully monitored Tony's acquaintances, his friends and one-night stands, it was normal procedure by now. Diana Prince never showed up in his radar before that party.

He quickly contacted his people when he saw her with Stark, trying to find out who she was, trying to understand if she was just a hot piece of ass or someone important, someone he should've known about. What did the boy want with a curator of a museum? Where the hell had they even met?

When she introduced herself, Tony mentioned she was an old acquaintance of Howard, or so he heard, but that made no sense. She was what? 30-something years old? She would've been a child back then, a teenager at best. Miss Prince corrected him and claimed to be a friend of Jarvis, Howard's old butler, but explained no further.

Aside from that, there was the fact she had bought Stark Industries' shares, but not out of the ordinary, just what could be interpreted as a normal investment choice, nothing else.

Obadiah Stane had no idea what to make of that. Should he dig more? Should he investigate her, find out what was her connection to Tony? Would it even matter? It could very well be exactly what it looked, a known womanizer picking up girls; he had no shortage of women throwing themselves at him, wanting a piece of fame and fortune. And if it wasn't for the brief explanation they provided about her knowing Howard and his butler in the past, he would've written it off as that.

Right now, however, Stane couldn't take any risks. The situation was already bad enough, he needed information, he needed leverage. He needed to know if someone was whispering dangerous ideas in the boy's ears, if someone had taken his place as the effective _consiglieri_ of the Stark family.

And if that happened, well, he simply would have to deal with her. It shouldn't be difficult to show he was onto her and scare her away if that was the case.

Downing his drink, Stane walked to the bar counter, putting a charming smile on his face. Time to meet this Diana Prince.

* * *

Against all odds, Diana was having fun. Her talk with Tony went better than she could've anticipated, but she suspected he would still prove quite the challenge as to the matter of truly believing her, much like Howard.

Lucky for her, she had learned a thing or two when it came to dealing with Starks. Hopefully it would be easier this time.

Sipping her wine, Diana noticed a man approaching her. Tall, big, bald, with a grey beard and a smile; she knew who that was, Howard had talked about him before. Obadiah Stane, a business man who worked closely with Tony, the one who took over as interim CEO of Stark Industries when Howard passed away.

That was all she knew about him. It seemed she was about to learn more.

"Oh, hello there, Miss Prince, right?" Obadiah said, giving her a big smile. "I'm Obadiah Stane, I'm a good friend of Tony's."

He kissed her hand. Diana smiled politely; for some reason, she disliked him immediately.

"Diana Prince," she introduced herself. "A pleasure."

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" he asked, his face still plastered with that smile he obviously thought it was charming. "Where is Tony?"

"He is dancing with Miss Potts," Diana answered, tilting her head in their direction. "I interrupted them earlier, it's only fair they get to finish it."

Stane frowned slightly, probably not understanding why she was so cool with this turn of events.

"Well, at least it will give us a chance to meet each other," he chuckled. "I heard you are a curator in the Smithsonian?"

She raised a single eyebrow.

"Heard where?"

"Oh, no, please, don't get me wrong!" he said, laughing, raising both hands as if apologizing. "We just like to keep tabs on our shareholders, if we can. To make sure they're satisfied with the way we're handling things."

"Is that so?" Diana asked, suspiciously. It was true she had Stark Industries' shares, quite a bit of them, but the majority of those shares were not on her name, they were bought by shell companies Peggy and Howard had set up for her.

If he knew her name and where she worked, Obadiah Stane had not learned that way.

"Of course," he assured her, oblivious to the fact she knew he was lying. "Especially considering the, um, current circumstances." Before she could say anything, he added: "Not that there is anything wrong, of course not, it will simply take a time for Stark Industries to adjust to the new business plan."

"Oh, I'm not worried at all," Diana dismissed. "In fact, I wholeheartedly approve Tony's decision."

He raised a single eyebrow. "You do?"

"It was past time for Stark Industries to take responsibility for its creations," Diana said. "And I trust Tony to lead it to a better path."

"Hmm… I'm happy to hear. How did you meet, by the way?" Stane asked. "He never mentioned."

"We met years back," Diana answered, noncommittally. "I was a friend of his butler."

"So why the sudden reconnection?" Stane asked, watching her shrewdly.

"An old friend almost died at the hand of terrorists," she said. "I would think that is enough reason, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Tony needs all the help he can get right now, in this time of need. He needs his real friends."

Diana turned to look at him.

"Like you?"

"Of course!" he laughed. "Someone need to take care of the boy, that has been my task in the company ever since Howard passed."

She gave him a fake smile in return for the joke. "I'm glad to know."

He glanced at her.

"So? Are you?" he asked.

Diana frowned. "Am I what?"

"A real friend."

Her frown deepened. What was he implying? That she was taking advantage of Tony?

"What exactly are you saying, Mr. Stane?" Diana asked.

"I just want to know if we all have the boy's best interests in mind," Stane shrugged, taking a sip of his scotch. "These are… Dangerous times. Times of change. Who knows what would happen if we trusted the wrong sort of person right now."

Diana almost punched the man right then and there. She could understand Stane's worry – even though she got a really bad vibe from him –, after all there were probably those who _would_ get closer to Tony to try to gain something, but that didn't mean she liked the implication.

Something on her face probably showed how much she disliked it, because another person interrupted them before she could say or do anything.

"I got your wine," the man said, smiling at her.

She was puzzled for a moment, trying to remember if she knew the man, then she recalled where she'd seen him: that was Agent Coulson, of SHIELD. Diana glanced at him, trying to understand what was happening, if he knew her somehow, but he seemed just to be helping her to get out of an unpleasant situation.

Diana accepted the wine – and the way out – gracefully.

"Thank you." She looked at Stane. "It's been a pleasure."

Before she could get away, following Coulson, Stane said:

"You know, I've known a few women like you."

Diana turned slowly and grinned dangerously.

"Oh, I don't think you've ever known a woman like me, Mr. Stane."

* * *

"The man was utterly intolerable," Diana complained, as they stopped at a table. She sighed, looking at him. "Thank you for that, Mr…?"

"Agent Coulson, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," he introduced himself.

Diana couldn't help but to smile at the silly name.

"Not from the Central Intelligence Agency?" she teased. "Or the Federal Bureau of Investigation? Do Agents in Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division like to watch races of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing?"

"I do enjoy watching NASCAR races occasionally," Coulson answered good-natured, his expression completely impassive.

Even still annoyed at the nerve of Obadiah Stane, Diana giggled.

"I am sorry, Agent Coulson, I just cannot abide SHIELD's full name, it sounds too…"

"Pretentious? Too formal? I know," Coulson admitted. "Surprisingly, it sounds far more important like that to the average people. They get more agreeable."

"Hmm, I hadn't considered that," Diana replied. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced mys–"

"I know who you are, Miss Prince," Coulson interrupted her. "You're Natasha's friend."

Diana opened a big smile when he said Natalia's name. "Nat has talked about me?"

She tried her best not to sound like a proud mother.

"Only to her friends."

It was wonderful to know Nat had made a few friends there, sometimes she doubted she would.

Coulson glanced at Stane's previous direction. "So, what happened back there? You seemed uncomfortable."

"Just a misunderstanding," she said, unwilling to go into details. "But thank you for getting me out, I was not sure I would resist the urge to throw my wine on his face for much longer."

"You're welcome," he answered without changing his serious expression one bit.

She decided then that she liked Coulson.

"So what is an Agent of the famous Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division doing here?" Diana asked. "If it's not confidential, of course."

"Not at all, I'm here to try to schedule an appointment with Mr. Stark, so we can debrief him on account of his escape."

"Were you successful?" Diana asked.

For the first time Coulson's face showed a trace of emotion: frustration.

"Somehow, I doubt it," he admitted. "But Agents of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division never give up."

She giggled again.

Tony was approaching the bar, looking happier than before; it seemed he had patched things up with Miss Potts.

"It's been a pleasure to formally meet you, Miss Prince," Coulson said, smiling at her.

"The pleasure was all mine, Agent Coulson," she answered, sincerely, as he walked away before Tony arrived, looking properly puzzled.

"What did he want?" Tony asked.

"Just introducing himself," Diana answered. "We have mutual friends. So, how are things with Miss Potts?"

Tony looked in the direction Pepper was for a moment. "They're good."

"I'm glad," she smiled.

He didn't answer, ordering a drink. He turned to her.

"Where are you staying tonight?" Tony asked, suddenly.

"I got a room in a hotel, why?"

"Stay with me," he said. Diana rolled her eyes, already about to say some things about Starks and their annoying obsession to flirt with anything that moved, when he added: "In the guest room. We can pick up your stuff on the way." He hesitated. "I want to show you something."

Diana was curious, she couldn't lie.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You'll see it tomorrow."

Well, how could she refuse?

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 18** **th** **, 2010**

A few hours later, the sun almost coming up to greet the new day, Tony finally closed the door of his room and relaxed, still completely dressed in his black suit.

He still couldn't quite believe the night he had, all the revelations, the world-shattering truths he learned; he couldn't believe he had a potential goddess sleeping in a room a few feet away from him, an old friend of his father and veteran of WWII.

How much weird could this night get?

As if answering his question, Jarvis spoke: "Sir, I apologize for intruding, but I believe you will want to see this right away."

Frowning, curious about what was so important that it couldn't wait for him to sleep a bit, Tony walked to the monitor Jarvis had remotely turned on.

His blood got cold as ice.

He was looking at images recorded by satellite, there was no doubt about that, one of his. The images weren't as good as he hoped, but he still could see well what was happening down there: war. Simple as that. Soldiers advancing towards a city, guns being fired, missiles flying, explosions, dead people… As Jarvis zoomed in and paused the recording, Tony felt a bad taste in his mouth.

There, written on one of the missiles, was his company's name: Stark Industries.

"You have asked me to keep tabs on conflicts in the Middle East, sir," Jarvis said. "This happened yesterday."

Tony quickly typed on the keyboard, passing the images. There weapon's crates branded with his company's name, missiles with his name on them, ammunition, vehicles… Everything an army needed to fight a war.

And apparently Stark Industries had provided it.

"Where is this?" Tony asked.

"A city called Gulmira, sir."

He felt his blood boil. Gulmira was Yinsen's city, the city attacked by the Ten Rings, the same terrorists that had captured them. And they had his guns.

"How did they get all this? I didn't approve any shipments."

There were a few seconds of silence. "I do not know, sir."

"Call Obi. Right now!"

The AI, for once, didn't have a sassy response.

Tony clenched his fists, furious. Someone went behind his back, disobeyed his decision and sold those weapons to terrorists. Someone in his company. He doubted this happened without Stane knowing.

The screen was suddenly taken by Stane's face as he picked the call.

" _Tony? Do you have any idea what time is it?"_

"Gulmira," Tony said, not in the mood for pleasantries. "What's going on there?"

Stane's expression changed immediately, from sleepy to fully awoke.

" _Tony, Tony, you can't afford to be this naïve,_ " he started. " _We can't just pull out of the business like this, it takes time to–_ "

"You know what? I was naïve before, when they said 'Here's the line, we don't cross it. This is how we do business.'." He glared at Stane. "If we're double-dealing under the table… Are we?"

Stane didn't answer right away, he simply held Tony's stare.

" _If someone in the company is doing this, then we'll find him. You have my word I'll look right into it."_

That's what he said, but what Tony understood was something else. Slowly, he grinned.

"You always work for the good of the company, right, Obi?"

" _Always, Tony."_

He smiled again and ended the call. Tony closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to control his rage. He always knew Stane was shrewd and cold, a true businessman, but he always thought he had his back. Or at least that he was smart enough to go with his decisions when it came to the company.

Apparently, this day was still not done with its revelations.

"Jarvis, let's do another flight test, shall we?"

* * *

 **Wakanda – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

"Wow!" Steve exclaimed.

He was lying back on the grass, on top of a white blanket, his unfocused eyes staring at the sky. His naked body was spent, tired, and his muscles felt like mush.

And yet, he had never felt better in his life.

Diana, also nude, was lying on top of him, her warm body embracing his own as her face rested close to his neck; he could feel her soft breath caressing him. Without even thinking about it, his arms enveloped her, trying to bring Diana even closer, feeling her smooth skin as he did it.

She laughed softly against his neck.

"'Wow' describes it pretty well," Diana whispered, gently biting his shoulder. "That was… Amazing."

It truly was, Steve wholeheartedly agreed. And it was very good to know she felt the same, because needless to say, Steve lacked experience in that department. What he lacked in experience, however, he more than compensated with enthusiasm, stamina and tenderness.

And he was a quick learner, after all.

Steve still couldn't believe that happened and his mind was too dazed for him to think about it, but he didn't regret one bit. It felt… It felt right. He loved Diana and she loved his as well. This was far more than simply pleasure, it was an expression of their feelings.

In his opinion, both of them had expressed them quite well. He held her even closer.

* * *

Diana breathed deeply, basking in Steve's smell, her face resting on his neck; her arms embraced him, feeling his muscles, her small form almost disappearing into him. She knew she was stronger than him, faster, better trained…

But she never felt safer in her entire life than when she was held by Steve.

It happened naturally, as if it were meant to be. They were both eager, but shy, excited, but inexperienced. And yet, as it happened in the battlefield, when their movements were pure art, Diana and Steve soon understood each another. Lust became pleasure, pleasure became love.

And at that moment, they felt as one.

Ever since leaving Themyscira, even with the all the good things, the good people, that she met, Diana couldn't help but to feel alone. She missed home _so much_ , she missed her island, her sisters, her aunt and her mother. Sometimes she felt out of place in Man's World, unable to understand a great deal of what was happening. The odd one out.

For the first time since she left Themyscira, Diana felt at home.

Carefully, unwilling to separate from Steve even for a moment, Diana slid up and touched his forehead with hers.

"I love you," she finally said.

None of them knew which one was the first to lean forward, but soon they were kissing again, feeling each other's bodies, their hands caressing. With one fluid move, Steve twisted himself and got on top of her, making her squeal in excitement, not stopping to touch or kiss her even for a moment.

Diana wished this would never end, that they wouldn't ever need to separate ever again, that Steve wouldn't stop kissing her.

And then, out of nowhere, the entire ground shook and a thunderous noise took the place.

Startled, they jumped apart, seeing the birds and animals fleeing, trying to understand what was happening.

That's when they saw the illusion that protected Wakanda, the hologram dome that covered a great deal of the kingdom, flicker; for a moment, they were able to see it from the inside, something that shouldn't happen, since it was an illusion made for outsider's eyes.

Suddenly, it cracked, like a mirror breaking. Wakanda was exposed.

"HYDRA!" Steve exclaimed. "We need to go back!"

Diana would never forgive HYDRA for that.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Golden City – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

"What just happened?" King Azzuri demanded, fully dressed in his black panther armor, entering his war room. His scientists and soldiers were running around the place nonstop.

The King walked to the middle of the room, where the holographic display of Wakanda glowed in a blue light; Aneka, his general, was already there, a worried look on her face.

"The protective hologram was hit with some kind of energy weapon," Aneka explained, quickly. "It cracked."

Azzuri stared at her, incredulous.

"How? Who?"

Aneka exhaled and typed. The holographic display of the city showed a smaller area, the plains where they expected HYDRA would attack from when they finally arrived.

Except that, by what Azzuri was seeing, they were already there.

The King of Wakanda watched, eyes widened, as a legion of HYDRA soldiers advanced through the plains, marching towards Wakanda. Thousands of soldiers, vehicles, tanks… An army built with a single purpose: conquer the Land of the Panther.

"How is this possible?" Azzuri hissed, unable to turn away.

Because it shouldn't be. They had agents, War Dogs and SSR spies, watching HYDRA's movements, assessing their numbers, their strength, the routes they would take to eventually arrive in Wakanda. There was no way for that army to have arrived on his doorstep without them noticing, it simply wasn't possible.

Nobody answered him.

"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" Azzuri roared.

"We do not know, my King," Aneka answered. "They weren't anywhere close from Wakanda… And then they were."

What was this? HYDRA technology? The God of War using his divine powers? Azzuri did not know.

But right now, it didn't matter. He looked at his Dora Milaje.

"Evacuate the city, engage all defenses… And get Captain America and Lady Diana to the front lines!" King Azzuri ordered.

HYDRA had arrived and Wakanda was going to war.

* * *

 **Hey guys, how are you doing? It's been a long time, I'm sorry, but the end of the year is an extremely busy period for me. Sorry for the messages I wasn't able to answer and for those I did answer, but a few days late. Trust me, if I had any say, I would talk to you guys all day, you're awesome!**

 **A couple of things: first, it's already been a long time (sorry again), but I'd like to honor Stan Lee. Without him and the universe he created this story wouldn't exist. As Steve Rogers said: "Earth lost its best defender". May he rest in peace, he deserves it.**

 **Second, some happy news: one of my readers, a nice guy named Marcus S. Lazarus, has written pages on the site TV Tropes for both my stories, Avenger Goddess and Avengers of Steel. He did it out of the kindness of his heart, out of his own will, and gave me quite the pleasant surprise. Check it out if you have the time, it's cool as hell hahaha Marcus, thanks again!**

 **This one is definitely the biggest chapter I wrote. Since I spent a good time without updating I wanted to deliver something special and I really hope you guys like it.**

 **Thanks for everything and I hope you're all doing great!**


	22. Chapter 22 - The Battle for Wakanda

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 22 – The Battle for Wakanda**

 **Wakanda – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Colonel Fritz Klaue looked through his binoculars, hoping to see something else than a huge rain forest that the troops could never cross.

He sighed; he might've hoped, but he sure as hell didn't expect to see anything different than what his own eyes were seeing: a big fucking jungle.

"There's no way we're moving through that forest," Klaue complained, for the thousandth time, eyes fixed on the 'brave leader' that brought them there.

The 'brave leader' didn't even had the courtesy to turn, he simply said out loud.

"Have faith, Colonel. Did I not get us here unnoticed? Herr Schmidt has showed us the path, we just have to follow it."

Klaue scowled hard; what he wouldn't give for the opportunity to shoot that son of a bitch and get away with it. All this talk about "faith" and "gods" and "magic" had no place in the battlefield. Sure, he had absolutely no idea _how_ that man actually brought them all there, he didn't understand the technology – a blue flash and there they were, all the way from Europe –, but that didn't mean he agreed with all that mystical nonsense.

Their happiness was short lived, after all. What did it matter for them to be transported from Europe to there, if there was nowhere to go to? They couldn't advance through the forest and they couldn't very well go back.

So much for having faith… Stupid son of a bitch.

No matter how much he might've wanted, however, he knew that he would never be able to just shoot Hitler's golden boy – HYDRA's now – and survive the repercussions long enough to enjoy it.

Wilhelm Lohmer, the Führer's precious "Master Man", was the Nazis' poster boy as much as Captain America was the US's. A perfect agent that embodied everything Hitler found precious about the Aryan Race: blond, blue eyes, tall, handsome, strong and intelligent. The ideal commander to lead Hitler's armies.

That is, until he defected and chose to follow a new master: Johann Schmidt. Then he became HYDRA's poster boy.

To Klaue, it made little difference, he was an insufferable asshole anyway. Always perfect, always in complete control, always one step ahead of everyone, allies and enemies. The Red Skull's chosen commander to conquer Wakanda.

And as such, the Master Man was given an army that Hitler himself would envy.

Klaue turned, glancing at their forces. Even disliking Lohmer, he had to admit that the man knew his business. Thousands of disciplined soldiers, advanced vehicles, aircrafts, tanks, tech of the likes he had never seen… It was an army built to utterly destroy its enemies. And it was being led by HYDRA's finest.

Their leader was Lohmer, but he was hardly the only impressive person present.

Julia Koenig, AKA Warrior Woman, was also one of the generals. An assassin, specialized in spotting and exploiting weaknesses. A master infiltrator who paved the way for the main forces by destroying her targets from the inside without them even noticing. A statuesque blonde, with blue eyes and ice for blood; also, Wilhelm Lohmer's wife.

Hitler apparently thought it would be intelligent to arrange a marriage between his golden boy and his golden girl; what he achieved, in the end, was to ensure that they both defected when HYDRA betrayed the Third Reich.

Helmut Gruler, the leader of the Iron Cross Division, was also there. The Iron Cross Division was, for lack of a better term, HYDRA's armored knights. Men and women clad in extremely advanced armors, fully equipped with all kinds of weapons, especially designed to be HYDRA's shock troopers.

Klaue had never seen Gruler without his armor and sometimes he wondered if he could actually get out of it. In it, Gruler was a truly fearsome sight, a juggernaut of metal that dwarfed even the biggest man, with a cross painted on his helmet and HYDRA's emblem on its chest.

He had already seen one of those in action and he could attest for its efficiency. Bullets, bombs and even tanks were nothing to that armor, it could hold pretty much anything. A true technological marvel of HYDRA's labs, with only a few disadvantages: they were hard to transport, hard to equip and fucking expensive to build.

In his opinion, though, those things were worth every coin. He had yet to see the Iron Cross Division being defeated.

The most fearsome of HYDRA's generals, however, wasn't Master Man or Warrior Woman or even the Iron Cross himself: it was Ophelia Sarkissian, Madame HYDRA.

Madame HYDRA was a title given to the highest ranked female member of HYDRA and Ophelia Sarkissian deserved that title. She had an intellect that rivalled Schmidt's, devotion to the cause and ruthlessness to annihilate any and all enemies of HYDRA. A leader, a scientist and an assassin all wrapped up in one.

Wilhelm Lohmer could be the one leading the troops, but Madame HYDRA was the one leading him. And Klaue was certain Lohmer feared her much more than he feared anything he might face in combat.

Last, but not least, there was Colonel Fritz Klaue himself. Different from the other commanders, Klaue didn't share their idealistic devotion for HYDRA. What he respected was power and money and HYDRA seemed to be the way to achieve that.

He wasn't German, for starters, but Dutch and he lived in Belgium. When the war started, however, Klaue saw in Hitler the chance to finally become what he was meant to become, to share the glory of the Third Reich.

It didn't take long for him to realize that another organization was better suited for that: HYDRA.

The Red Skull accepted him, even though he most likely knew he would never share the utter devotion for the cause most of his members did. Schmidt knew how to spot value, though, and Klaue proved he had a lot to offer.

Not only he was a soldier of remarkable skill and an efficient commander, Klaue was also an excellent explorer. He could find routes that not even the natives knew about, lead his troops through forests, mountains and rivers, through paths no one had ever used and surprise the enemy. It was his talent and he exceled at it.

No matter how good he was at it, however, Klaue could never lead an army _that_ big through the forest in front of them.

It wasn't a matter of finding pathways through the trees, of not getting lost; it was a matter of not being able to fit whole tanks, trucks, cars and freaking armored soldiers in there. They couldn't go through, it was impossible, and he said so to the Red Skull several times. No army would enter Wakanda. Not through the forest, not through the rivers, not through mountains.

Johann Schmidt merely asked him to trust the gods. If the man didn't terrify him so much, he would've punched him.

So there they were, with a huge army, full of technological weapons and vehicles… and no way to move forward. Whatever impressive tech they used to get there left them in front of an impenetrable rain forest. He had no idea why they needed an army so big to face such a poor country or why the Red Skull wanted to take Wakanda so much, but he wasn't in a position to ask. Schmidt ordered them to attack, so they attacked.

And now Wilhelm Lohmer had no option but to retreat and plan a new offensive.

If he didn't know that the Red Skull would be livid with _all_ of them, Klaue would've found that funny. As it was, as one of the commanders, he would share the blame and the Red Skull was not famous for being merciful.

What in the name of god was he doing there? Why did he involve himself in this? Bunch of lunatics, following an even bigger one, and there he was, about to be punished for this. His mind was already looking for alternatives, for ways to regain his reputation, when Lohmer yelled:

"FIRE!"

One of the tanks, a HYDRA model that put the Allied tanks to shame, aimed and fired. A blue energy ray crossed the sky, the noise like a thunder, right in the forest's direction. In the seconds that took for the energy beam to hit, Klaue thought what the hell were they doing. What good was to fire against a forest?

When the energy ray hit the forest, however, instead of an explosion and fire, the forest disappeared completely.

Like a mirage, the impenetrable rain forest glowed blue for a moment and then faded. Behind it, Klaue saw a golden city, glowing under the sun.

"Eldorado," Klaue whispered, marveled.

Still shocked to his core, barely hearing the order, Klaue advanced towards the city of gold, the massive army following behind the heads of the HYDRA.

* * *

King Azzuri, the Black Panther of Wakanda, knew that this war would change his home forever.

This would not be the first war Wakanda fought, nor the first time they had to protect their kingdom from an invasion or the first time his people bled to keep their land safe. The Wakandans were accomplished warriors, always honing their skills even in peace times, always improving what they had learned from Bast and Sekhmet.

But Wakanda had never been challenged by a god, either, not without their own goddesses to fight alongside them.

Not just any god, but Ares, the Olympian God of War that had slaughtered his entire pantheon and almost destroyed the world. A god that feasted in conflict, so connected to his domain that he became War itself. And this god was leading an army that dreamed about conquering the entire planet.

The force attacking them was unlike anything Azzuri had ever seen. Wakanda's technology was one of the most advanced in the world, probably the most advanced, but what his spies and the SSR had showed him was worrying. Schmidt managed to develop things that not even his best scientists or Howard Stark could dream of, weapons and vehicles that defied the laws of nature.

Their very presence inside Wakandan borders proved that.

It was simply impossible for even a single man to slip inside Wakanda unnoticed, it could not be done. The Border Tribe and his scientists had developed technology and surveillance techniques that had protected Wakanda for millennia. They were ever watchful and they had never failed.

And yet, somehow, an entire hostile army got inside his kingdom and was only noticed when its forces got within seeing distance from the Golden City, the heart of Wakanda itself.

Azzuri did not understand how that happened, no one in Wakanda did, and that worried him more than he would ever admit.

Hiding his fear and doubts behind his impassive face, Azzuri turned and looked at his warriors; he felt his chest fill with pride. An army composed by the very best soldiers in Wakanda, from the elite Dora Milaje, to the fierce warriors of the Border Tribe that had kept their kingdom safe since the beginning. Soldiers baring the colors of the other Tribes were visible amongst the majority of red and blue, in lesser numbers but just as deadly, and even city guards were present.

Right behind him, the Howling Commandos followed, their uniforms and guns different from the Wakandans, but the unyielding expression on their faces the same. Foreigners fighting side by side with his soldiers, brave enough to shed blood for them, to lay their lives for a people that they did not belong to. Men that had gained Azzuri's utmost respect.

Walking by his side, on the front line of the army, was Steve Rogers, the legendary Captain America, a leader worthy of the same deference his people gave him. Aneka, his general and most trusted soldier, was also by him. And on his right side, fully clad on her Amazon armor, was Lady Diana, daughter of Zeus, the goddess sent to Wakanda by Bast herself to help defend their home.

And Azzuri's greatest hope to deal with Ares if he actually showed up, for only a god could ever hope to slay another; he thanked the heavens that Bast sent Diana their way.

It was a force worthy of praise, an army built to withstand an invasion led by a God of War. All wielding Wakanda's sacred metal, both in their weapons and their armors and shields, all marching behind him to meet their enemy on the edge of the barrier that protected Wakanda.

One day, Wakandans would sing about this day, about how thousands of men and women marched through the green plains, the Golden City behind them, moving towards HYDRA's army on the other side of the barrier. One day, they would sing about every men and women that fought and died there, to protect their kingdom. One day, they would sing about Wakanda defeating HYDRA.

King Azzuri prayed to Bast that one day they would do all that, for the alternative was too horrifying to even consider.

* * *

Steve was thinking about everything they could do to end this as quickly as possible, to minimize the casualties and to ensure the safety of the civilians. King Azzuri had ordered an emergency evacuation of the Golden City, so close to the battlefield that they could reach it in minutes, to take the noncombatants to other cities far away from there. Every single vehicle not currently being used by the army was employed to that effect, even horses, and the city was quickly being emptied; Steve hoped it would be quick enough. The people that lived in the royal palace were still there, safe in the bunkers under it, guarded behind the thick vibranium walls.

Howard, Peggy, Erik and King Azzuri's family were in the main lab, located under the royal palace, probably the safest place in all of Wakanda.

He looked forward. There were miles between them, but Steve could already see HYDRA's forces approaching through the plains, ready to meet them in combat. It was a truly incredible sight, he had to admit, an army of the likes he had never seen.

Luckily, there was Wakanda's barrier between them and HYDRA.

Steve wouldn't presume to understand how that barrier worked, but he knew it was strong, _very_ strong, and wide enough to envelop that whole section of the country; it was like they were under a giant blue dome. And if King Azzuri was right, that blue dome would ensure their victory without the need to fire a single bullet.

His reasoning was correct, Steve supposed. If HYDRA couldn't breach the barrier – and according to the King it had never been breached –, then they would have to retreat. They were not in a position to hold a siege, to wait for the whole country of Wakanda to simply crumble while they waited outside the barrier, because that would simply not happen. On the contrary, HYDRA would be the one to run out of resources if they tried to hold a siege, be forced to abandon their vehicles and retreat through the Wakandan forests, where Azzuri's trained forces would drop them one by one and then simply destroy the rest of their army. Not one Wakandan life would be lost that way, it would be the perfect victory.

 _If_ they couldn't breach the barrier.

Steve was a man of faith and he considered himself an optimist, but he had to plan for the worst. If HYDRA managed to breach the barrier, well, they would have to fight. Meet them head-on and face their forces on those plains, with the Golden City shining behind them. And if that happened, no matter how well things went, lives would be lost, there was no way around that.

And if they lost… Steve hoped things would work out the way King Azzuri imagined, he truly did.

* * *

Diana was tense, which was surprising to her. Usually battles left her eager to fight, to test her skills, like any proud Amazon would; Amazons were beings created to restore love in the world, but they _were_ warriors and they were very good at it.

There was no anticipation for this fight, however. Not when there was so much to lose if Wakanda could not win.

King Azzuri, at least, believed her when Diana told him what the stakes were. It was not simply a matter of win or lose; even if HYDRA lost, but managed to summon the Cheetah Goddess, Sekhmet, then Ares would win in the long run.

Bast had warned them. If Sekhmet was summoned by Ares, forcibly woken up and influenced by his powers, then she would wage a war that the modern world had still not experienced: a divine one. She would fight against Ares, lead the Wakandan forces against the Nazis, but in doing so she would empower the God of War so much that he would become unbeatable.

A World War was bad enough; a divine war could very well destroy the entire planet and leak to the rest of the cosmos.

This was a battle that they could not afford to lose, but more importantly, they could not allow, in any circumstance, Sekhmet to be brought into this world. So they would have to stop HYDRA's forces before they reached the Necropolis, the most likely place – probably the only one – where Ares would be able to summon the Cheetah Goddess.

If the barrier surrounding Wakanda did not hold, then their blades and weapons would have to.

Diana kept her eyes on the approaching HYDRA army as the Wakandan army marched, evaluating the threat. They were more numerous than the Wakandans, with several different types of tanks, armored soldiers and transports. They marched in loose blocks, with a line of tanks in front of them, as if shielding the rest of the army – tanks unlike any that she had seen before, big and boxy, as if built to carry troops inside it. The soldiers appeared to be carrying energy weapons and regular ones, however there was a division that seemed to be much better equipped, starting with their intimidating full-armors that made them seem so much bigger than normal men.

There was no sign of those blue abominations anywhere and that bothered Diana; why go through all the trouble of experimenting on people to create them if they would not be used in such a battle? Something did not smell right, but Diana was distracted from that when she saw what was moving behind HYDRA's forces.

A Mjölnir cannon on top of a huge tank.

It was not on top of a Sleipnir – the tank designed to carry the Mjölnir that they had blew up in Lublin – and that was a relief, but the fact that HYDRA had brought the city destroyer weapon with them was terrible news; as far as they knew, HYDRA had not built another one.

Apparently, their intelligence had been wrong, because Diana's eyes were certainly not deceived.

Suddenly, when they had reached a point just a few kilometers away from the barrier, King Azzuri raised his hand and the Wakandan army stopped. On the other side of the blue dome, HYDRA did the same.

"The cannon on the back, King Azzuri, that's the one," Steve said, serious, without raising his voice. "One shot of that Mjölnir weapon is capable of leveling a city."

"If it is strong enough to breach the barrier," Aneka countered from Azzuri's other side.

Azzuri said nothing to them, his hard gaze fixed on the Mjölnir. Then his eyes moved when a small group of HYDRA soldiers detached themselves from the main forces and started to move towards the barrier, not attacking, but as if wanting to speak.

"Princess Diana, Captain Rogers, Aneka… Let us look into the enemies' eyes," Azzuri said, commanding his own troops to stay put and starting to move towards the barrier.

The Black Panther was the very personification of royalty as he approached the enemy forces. He was wearing his vibranium panther armor, with a long high collar black cape attached to it, and two vibranium swords sheathed on his waist, the blades curved like sickles. Azzuri walked as the king he was, showing no fear, no hesitation, much like his imposing panther goddess.

He was the guardian of Wakanda and HYDRA would soon learn that.

Steve accompanied him by his side, his new vibranium-padded, star-spangled blue and red uniform glowing under the sun. He was wearing a blue helmet – made of vibranium too – and his shield was strapped to his back, as well as his rifle and two pistols holstered on his waist.

Her eyes lingered on him for a moment and she did her best to push the flashes of their recent encounter back inside her mind; there would be enough time for that after they won, Diana reassured herself.

On Azzuri's other side, Aneka followed her king, her vibranium spear firmly held in her hand. She was wearing her Dora Milaje clothes, already made for combat, and her serious eyes were fixed on the enemy, as if she could not wait to meet them in combat.

And then there was Diana herself, walking by Steve's right, wearing her amazon armor, with her shield and sword on her back and the Lasso of Hestia on her waist; she needed nothing else to fight, not when she was equipped with weapons and armor forged with the knowledge of the gods.

The approaching soldiers were also four. The one that seemed to be leading was a tall and strong man, blond like Steve, but possessing none of the kindness the man she loved had. Instead, his blue eyes showed only intelligence, willpower and strength.

By his side was a woman, also blonde and beautiful, wearing the HYDRA's black uniform like the man, with a long rifle strapped to her back. And like her leader, her face was cold and calculating, without a shred of emotion.

The third soldier was a dark-haired man, not handsome, strong or tall like the leader, but with a vicious glow in his eyes; a snake, Diana concluded, taking but a moment. Maybe not as powerful as a lion, but just as deadly, if only because people often overlooked the danger he represented.

Finally, there was another man behind them – or at least Diana assumed it was a man. He was inside a giant metal armor, with a cross painted on his helmet and HYDRA's symbol on his chest. Diana could hear the ground tremble at each of his steps even from that distance, indicating the sheer mass of that armor; how he could move wearing that thing Diana did not know, but he was certainly a menace in the battlefield.

Ares – in the disguise of Johann Schmidt – was nowhere to be seen. Diana wondered if he was truly not there or if he was hiding, waiting for the right moment to appear.

Both groups walked to the barrier and when they knew they could hear one another, they stopped, assessing each other. HYDRA's commander moved his cold eyes through them, slowly, until they finally stopped on her; then he showed the first signs of emotion, widening a bit.

Before he could open his mouth, however, King Azzuri stepped forward.

"You are in Wakanda now," he stated, his voice thundering through his helmet. "You will find nothing but dust and blood here."

The man held Azzuri's stare without blinking.

"King Azzuri," he said, nodding his head slightly. "I am General Wilhelm Lohmer, leader of the forces in front of you. These are Julia Koenig, Colonel Fritz Klaue and Helmut Gruler. In the name of HYDRA, of Herr Johann Schmidt, I am here to demand Wakanda's surrender."

Azzuri simply stared, unmoved, but Aneka was not nearly as unbothered.

"I have a counteroffer," Aneka said, before Azzuri could open his mouth. "Kneel, ask for forgiveness… And then I will end the four of you quickly." She tilted her head. "Believe me, the alternative will be much more painful."

Lohmer, to Diana's surprise, was not offended nor afraid, despite the murderous look Julia Koenig sent Aneka.

"I do not wish to shed more blood than necessary," Lohmer said. "Wakanda is a marvel. I would not wish to see it destroyed."

"Just its people," Steve said, serious.

HYDRA's leader looked at him.

"Despite what you may think, Captain Rogers, HYDRA is not the enemy," Lohmer retorted. "We, unlike Hitler, do not wish to see this world tear itself apart in raw chaos. We do not believe in Hitler's mad pursuit for racial purity. We do not want war for the sake of war. That is why we are doing this: to bring order to this world."

"I have seen the kind of order you brought to the Death Camps," Steve argued.

"Not our crimes," Lohmer answered, without missing a beat. "Hitler's. And one we could not avoid."

"But one you profited from quite nicely," Azzuri interjected, "if my sources are correct."

"A sacrifice turned to noble purpose," Lohmer stated. "Their deaths would be meaningless otherwise."

"You slaughtered children!" Diana exclaimed, no longer able to contain herself. "Tortured them, experimented on them!"

Lohmer turned to her, his face losing the impassiveness; he bowed.

"Lady Diana, it is an honor to meet you," he said, respectfully, as if they were not enemies. "Herr Schmidt was right. To even glance at a goddess such as you is a gift."

Diana was speechless for a second, then she answered, coldly. "I am not a goddess. And it is not an honor to meet a murderer, much less an army of murderers."

The haunting images she saw in Majdanek and Auschwitz flashed before her eyes for a moment. HYDRA and the Nazis had much to answer for. This was not a battle amongst equals, an honored fight between warriors.

This was a battle to stop evil. Nothing more.

The man, however, was not fazed in the least.

"I hope we can prove ourselves to you, milady," Lohmer continued, glancing at her with his blue eyes. "To show you that we are deserving of your leadership. I hope the gift of the Kingdom of Wakanda is enough for that."

Fury burned inside her. How dared he say they were doing all this on her name?!

"The only thing you are deserving of is a sword to the neck," Diana threatened. "And I will count myself fortunate if I am the one to deliver the blow."

Surprisingly, he bowed again.

"If that is to be my fate, then I will gracefully accept it," Lohmer answered, humble. "And I will consider myself fortunate to be delivered to the afterlife by one such as you, Lady Diana."

Diana almost attacked him right then and there, but Steve lightly touched her hand, stopping her from advancing towards the barrier. How dared this HYDRA scum to presume so much? To worship her, to go to war in the hope of impressing her? What did Ares intend with all this? What was the point of lying to his soldiers, to imply she was a goddess and that she would somehow lead them?

She had no answer for that yet, but Diana would find out what Ares' plan was, she promised herself.

Lohmer looked at Azzuri again.

"I beg of you to reconsider, King Azzuri," he said. "There is no need for senseless deaths today. Surrender and you have my word no harm will come upon your people."

"Do you take me for a fool or for a coward, Wilhelm Lohmer?" Azzuri asked, his voice harsh. "Do you truly believe I will allow HYDRA to conquer Wakanda?"

"No," Lohmer admitted, "but I hoped you would listen to reason." He turned his back to them and pointed to his forces; to the Mjölnir cannon. "You know what that is, don't you? That is a Mjölnir cannon, a city destroyer. If you do not surrender, I will be forced to use it. The city behind you will burn to ashes. Your people will die. And then you will surrender anyway or be killed to the last man." Lohmer stared at Azzuri. "You are a protector of Wakanda, are you not? Protect it."

Azzuri stayed in silence for almost a minute, simply staring back at Lohmer. Surely he was not considering this, was he? It was madness. HYDRA – _Ares_ – would not respect any truce, any surrender. He was a God of War and there would be war.

The Black Panther stepped forward.

"Do you truly believe your cannon can breach my barrier?" Azzuri asked.

"Are you willing to find out?" Lohmer questioned.

To everybody's surprise, Azzuri said immediately: "No, I am not."

And then he looked up.

There was a loud sound in the sky, coming from the city, getting louder by the second. Diana looked up, widening her eyes when she saw five airplanes cross the sky, no doubt coming from the Golden City, moving so much faster than any plane she had seen to that day that it left her without words.

They were unlike any aircraft the Allied Forces possessed, quicker, more agile, much more evolved than the planes Diana had seen. Maneuvering fast, they went up, right at the moment a section of the barrier opened, passing through it and flying towards the HYDRA army.

Flying towards the Mjölnir cannon.

Every soldier, every tank, started to shoot up, trying to destroy the Wakandan planes before they could fire upon the Mjölnir, but they moved so _fast_ that the energy shots simply passed by them. And when they were close enough, all five of them fired their missiles against the Mjölnir.

Only to see them explode against a barrier that formed out of nowhere around the tank carrying the Mjölnir, a barrier not unlike the one surrounding Wakanda.

Diana was speechless, so was Steve, Azzuri and Aneka; how could HYDRA possess that technology? But before any of them could speculate, try to find any answer, HYDRA's forces unleashed all their might upon the Wakandan planes; even with all their maneuverability they could not evade all enemy fire, not when the sky itself was taken by the blue energy blasts.

They could only watch as the five planes burned to cinders.

Lohmer looked at Azzuri, his expression still unfazed.

"You are not the only one who sees the tactical advantage of a shield, King Azzuri," he said. "Our weapon is well protected. Let us see if Wakanda is as well."

Saying this, Lohmer and the three others turned and walked back to the main forces. In the distance, she could see the Mjölnir cannon starting to move.

* * *

Howard Stark typed fast, his eyes glued to the huge monitor in front of him. He was in Wakanda's main lab, alongside Peggy, Erik, Azzuri's family and a few selected scientists, monitoring the battle via from afar; it was remarkable how advanced Wakanda's technology was, to give him access to live footage like that, but that wasn't the moment to be amazed.

Not when his eyes could see the Mjölnir cannon taking aim on the city.

That was bad news. They had feared something like that happening, but it wasn't until they could actually see the Mjölnir near the city that they knew HYDRA had managed to build another one of those city destroyers. To the best of their knowledge, it hadn't happened.

The good news was that the Golden City wasn't defenseless like any other city in the world. That barrier surrounding them was amazingly strong and could, maybe – hopefully –, absorb the impact and spare the city behind it.

But how much could it block? How long would it hold after being shot? More importantly, how many blasts could the Mjölnir cannon fire and in which frequency?

Luckily, that was an answer he could provide.

Wakanda was not only surrounded by cameras and satellites, it was also surrounded by a humongous quantity of sensor devices. The goal was, after all, remain hidden, protect Wakanda's true capabilities from the world. They needed to monitor their border at all times and these sensors did just that.

And right now, Howard Stark was learning all he could about the Mjölnir cannon aiming at them.

"Energy levels rising, heat not being dispersed efficiently, weak alloy… Oh my!" Howard whispered.

"What is it, Howard?" Peggy asked, tense.

They're all tense, especially the kids, even though Erik was doing his best to appear brave.

"I think I have some good news for a change," he said, opening the comm channel; and what a marvelous advancement that communication method was, Howard remarked in silence, as he did it. "Can you hear me?"

There were a few seconds of silence.

" _We hear you, Howard,_ " Steve answered. " _What is it?_ _We are about to have some problems right now._ "

"Oh, I know, I can see the cannon charging. Here's the thing, though, the numbers are all wrong. It's heating too fast, too much, and the power levels are charging slowly–"

" _Get to the point, Howard!_ "

"They built the thing with trash!" Howard concluded, smiling. "We were surprised HYDRA managed to build another Mjölnir cannon in secret, even though we destroyed their factories and disrupted their supply lines, but thing is, they didn't. Not really. The Mjölnir aiming at us was rushed, built with subpar materials and most likely not by HYDRA's brightest scientists, nothing like the one you blew up in Lublin."

" _And what does that mean, Mr. Stark?"_ King Azzuri asked.

"It means it will take a long time to cooldown after the first shot, otherwise the whole thing will disintegrate. Who knows? It might be able to fire two times, at best. If the Wakanda barrier holds, we'll have time to destroy it before it can fire again!"

As long as they managed to get past that weird protective field around the tank carrying the Mjölnir, of course, but Captain Rogers and the Howling Commandos were nothing if not resourceful.

Last case scenario, Princess could probably try to punch the damn thing until it broke.

* * *

Wilhelm Lohmer gave one last look at the Wakandan army and turned to the charging city destroyer cannon. He could see the battle inside his mind, predict every move and he gave his orders accordingly. Wakanda would fall.

It was a pity. He did not lie when he said Wakanda was a marvel, down to its people; only Hitler and his people were foolish enough to discard one's value based on their appearance. The kingdom was a literal gift from the gods to mankind and see it destroyed brought him no joy. But for the good of the world, HYDRA would have to do it.

"Fire when you are ready!" Lohmer ordered.

* * *

Steve, King Azzuri, Diana and Aneka were back at the front line of the Wakandan troops, their eyes fixed on the far away Mjölnir. There was an eerie silence, as everyone wondered if Wakanda's barrier would hold; Steve heard prayers, people calling for the Panther Goddess, and even Diana uttered a small prayer to Hera, as she often did.

The Wakandan army was positioned differently than what Steve was used to, their formation closer to the old Roman legions than to a modern army, the soldiers aligned into tight blocks, with them in the front line.

And everybody's eyes were glued to the glowing charging Mjölnir.

For a moment, Steve entertained the idea of telling King Azzuri to open a section of the barrier so they could charge and maybe stop the cannon before it fired, but he knew they would never make it in time, not with HYDRA's entire army defending it and a weird energy shield around the Mjölnir. Not even an aerial strike would work, not after they lost the element of surprise.

No, they did not have any option now, they would have to trust Wakanda's barrier.

It was slow, weak at first, but second by second the blue glow emanating from the city destroyer weapon got stronger, until the entire horizon was taken by it. The huge cannon moved slowly, pointing up, the humming noise perfectly hearable to Steve's enhanced senses even from that distance. They held their breaths, tense, eyes unblinking, not able to do a single thing to stop what could be the end of Wakanda.

Could the barrier stop this? Could it at least block most of the blast's power? Did the civilians in the Golden City manage to evacuate completely? Questions that Steve was certain everyone there was thinking.

And then the Mjölnir fired.

The blue energy beam made a noise unlike any other when it was fired, as if it was burning the very air in its path. The glow was incredible, even brighter than the sun, and the entire place trembled as if an earthquake had hit Wakanda. The energy blast flew up to the sky, fast, continuously, going over the barrier surrounding Wakanda, over their army, only to start descending like an arc.

Until it finally clashed against the blue dome, right on top of the Golden City.

The barrier surrounding Wakanda rippled and the ground shook ten times worse than before, making some of the soldiers fall. The surface of the energy dome seemed like disturbed water, like a lake hit by a very big rock, and cracks began to appear all over it; the energy blast from the Mjölnir seemed never-ending, like a stream of pure power being discharged over Wakanda.

Like the wrath of an angry god.

The sound was terrifying, as if a thousand storms had hit them at the same time, and the cracks on the surface of the barrier were getting worse and worse, like broken glass. The very ground started to crack as well, the earth opening, screeching as if in pain. The trees from the forests around them were bent because of the wind.

But the barrier was still resisting.

Could it really do it? Could it actually stop the city destroyer weapon? Would Wakanda be safe? The Wakandans around him were praying again, some with their eyes closed, others unable to stop staring at the endless stream of energy raining upon them. Steve felt a ripple of hope inside him, growing by the second as the barrier managed to block the Mjölnir, even if that meant being damaged. If it could resist just this once, they would be able to try to stop the weapon to fire a second time. It was possible, they could do it!

And when his hope took his entire being, certain that everything would be alright, a strange blue portal opened just on top of the barrier, swallowing the entire beam of energy fired from the Mjölnir.

The other end of the portal opened right on top of the Golden City, inside the barrier.

The energy stream crossed from one side to the other, bypassing the barrier as if it didn't exist, disappearing on one end and reappearing on the one inside the dome. There was nothing between the Golden City and the energy beam now.

Steve would never forget the explosion that followed, swallowing the Golden City in a blue glow brighter than the sun.

As Wakanda burned in the distance, the blue dome around them was unmade. There was nothing between them and HYDRA now.

* * *

Azzuri was frozen in place, unable to tear his eyes from the Golden City; the ruins of the Golden City.

He could not believe in what his eyes were seeing. This had to be a nightmare of some sort. His blood was cold and he was unable to speak or to move or to do anything other than stare at the center of his kingdom.

In the back of his mind, his rational thoughts whispered that the barrier must have protected the city from the worst of the blast, since the Golden City was not erased from existence. Where the energy beam hit there was only a crater left, no more buildings, no more streets, just destruction. Around the crater things did not look much better, the shockwaves spreading the ruin throughout the city, toppling buildings, breaking walls, burning trees, annihilating everything in its path. On the edges of the Golden City, however, a few buildings still stood. Cracked and burnt, but still there.

Just like the royal palace.

The Citadel was the most well defended part of all Wakanda, built to withstand virtually anything, with walls reinforced with stone, steel and vibranium and even with less powerful energy barriers of its own. It had, unlike the other buildings close to the blast, survived; but barely. Half of it had simply collapsed and the rest was falling apart as he looked, but some parts were still there, resisting.

Azzuri, however, could not care less about the palace. He cared for what was under it, in Wakanda's main lab. More accurately, he cared for the people inside that lab.

"Stark, do you copy? Nanali?! T'Chaka? N'Jobu? Can someone hear me?!" he yelled in his communicator desperately, when his body was able to move again.

There was only silence.

His city, his people, his family… In that moment, Azzuri was not the Black Panther, protector of Wakanda. He was just a man who had lost everything that mattered to him in a single blow.

His spirit was as broken as the Golden City.

* * *

Wilhelm Lohmer watched the destruction caused by the Mjölnir with calculating eyes. There was no emotion behind his gaze, no regret at seeing a city being almost being wiped out, no gloating at seeing his enemy bleed. There was simply a clinical analysis of the battlefield.

Everything went according Herr Schmidt's predictions. The barrier surrounding Wakanda proved itself stronger than they believed, but with the Power that the Gods left behind they were able to breach it. The result was not as spectacular as they imagined, but it was enough to bring down the shield around the kingdom and allow them entrance.

Now the true battle could finally begin.

"Recharge the weapon and be ready to fire again," Lohmer ordered and his subordinate saluted him.

He turned to his wife, Julia Koenig, Madame HYDRA and Colonel Fritz Klaue.

"You have one hour until the Mjölnir is ready," Lohmer stated. "Either get away from the city until then or find cover."

The three of them nodded and walked to the trucks stationed behind his troops. As they walked, the trucks opened to reveal a cargo of Parasites – HYDRA's one-man aircrafts that could take off without the need of a runway – and without saying anything, each one of them boarded a plane. HYDRA's technology truly was wondrous, Lohmer thought, as the Parasites took off vertically and started to fly, passing over the battlefield and going to the city.

They had their mission and Lohmer had his.

"Release the Beasts," Lohmer commanded, looking at his lieutenant. He hesitated for a moment. "If they attack the wrong side, you have permission to open fire."

* * *

Diana was feeling the same thing she felt when HYDRA attacked Themyscira: despair.

She could feel the Wakandans' pain as if it were her own. She could understand their anguish. She could share their suffering. And the worst thing of all, she could do nothing about it.

Azzuri was trying to get in contact with the main lab – with his _family_ – and for the first time Diana saw the solemn King of Wakanda display such raw emotion. Aneka was struck silent, eyes wide still glued to the ruins of the Golden City. The rest of the soldiers were paralyzed, witnessing for the first time war reach their nation.

Diana and Steve were struck by the same shock. Peggy, Howard, Erik… They were there as well when the city blew up. And neither she nor him were able to get in contact with any of them.

HYDRA had killed her aunt, Antiope, and her Amazon sisters. She prayed to any God or Goddess that might hear her so that would not happen again. She could not bear to lose more of her family, not now.

The Howling Commandos were somber. They, like Diana and Steve, had already seen the terrible thigs HYDRA had done, the horrible things they were capable of. But there was still surprise in their eyes; they saw just how advanced Wakanda was, how extraordinary their technology was compared to theirs.

And HYDRA still found a way to hurt them.

Ares would pay for that, Diana swore. It was one more crime to the unbelievably long list of the God of War's crimes, one more sin to be avenged. Wakanda was a marvel, a gift from Bast and Sekhmet to the world, and Ares had almost destroyed its heart. Worse, he had killed innocent people, people that were dear to her.

Diana would not allow him to harm anyone anymore.

As soon as she thought that, her enhanced hearing caught the sound of an aircraft passing over their heads, coming from the enemy's direction. Three of them, unlike anything she had seen before, but moving fast. For a moment, she wondered if they would attack them, but the planes passed through.

They were going to the city.

At the same time, the front line of HYDRA tanks began to move, turning to expose their side, their cannons pointed at them. They were big, boxy, more like train wagons than any other tank she had seen before. It seemed a waste of space, really, because something shaped like that simply could not be fast.

Soon she understood why. Those tanks were not built sturdy to withstand attacks from outside; they were built to keep things inside.

Diana heard them before seeing them. She watched as the tanks opened the big doors they had on their side – incredibly thick with layers upon layers of metal – and released a stream of caged abominations, the blue monsters they had fought before. Every single tank on HYDRA's front line did the same and the roars of the mutated humans took the battlefield.

They were running towards them. And they were furious.

Yelling a warning to the Wakandan troops, Diana unsheathed her sword and grabbed her shield. Steve and the Howling Commandos did the same, pointing their weapons to the approaching creatures. The plain in front of their forces was simply taken by the beasts, as they ran and galloped like mad monsters, cutting the distance in a surprising display of speed.

The Wakandans, however, were still too stunned to move, many not even realizing that they were being attacked.

"SHIELD WALL!" Diana yelled, her powerful lungs projecting her voice throughout the battlefield. "FORM A SHIELD WALL!"

Azzuri was the first to snap out of his confusion, unsheathing his two swords.

"Border Tribe front!" Azzuri commanded and his deep voice made the Wakandans move fast. "Dora Milaje in the second line!"

"Howling Commandos with them!" Steve ordered. "Use the portable energy shields to protect our flanks!"

Like they trained, the members of the Border Tribe joined Diana and Steve in the front line, raising their capes. The vibranium infused capes were concealed barriers and the moment they were activated they glowed blue just like the barrier that surrounded Wakanda up until a few moments ago.

One by one, the members of the Border Tribe activated their capes, forming the shield wall barrier, with Diana and Steve in the center, their own shields raised as well. Behind them, the contingent of Dora Milaje took position, their long spears finding breaches in their shield wall as they pointed them towards the abominations; Diana felt two spears appearing by the sides of her head, the blades adding thorns on their shield wall.

At the same time, the Howling Commandos did the same, their rifles pointed at the beasts as they guarded themselves behind the Border Tribe barrier.

The rest of the soldiers prepared the energy shields, covering their flanks so they would not get overwhelmed. Quickly and efficiently, just like practiced, they buried the vibranium stakes in the ground, forming a perimeter around their flanks; when they were done, they activated them, forming a portable blue barrier, protecting all sides.

"Shoot on my command!" Steve yelled, his blue eyes fixed on the roaring beasts.

Diana could feel the ground trembling as the powerful abominations galloped, their deformed limbs beating the dirt. They were snarling, mad with the need to kill, their horrible faces twisted in rage. She sensed the fear in the men by her side.

"Steady!" Diana shouted. "Behind us is Wakanda! We _will_ defend it!"

The members of the Border Tribe still had fear in their eyes, but their expressions were hardened with resolve. Those men were born to defend Wakanda and that is what they would do now, even against such terrible enemies.

"FIRE!" Steve yelled.

The noise was incredible, but Diana ignored it, seeing the Dora Milaje and the Howling Commandos shooting their targets. The sonic blasts from the vibranium spears packed absurd power, dropping the abominations in single shots, and the Howling Commandos fired with amazing precision, the vibranium and explosive bullets drilling the creatures until they fell.

But the creatures never hesitated, not even when many of them died. They kept running, even faster now, ignoring the wounds and the continuous shooting as they got closer. For a moment, Diana pitied them; she knew that those creatures were once innocent men and women, transformed against their will into living weapons. They did not feel pain or fear anymore, only the need to kill.

It would be a mercy to end them.

The blue monsters kept dropping as the Howling Commandos and the Dora Milaje fired, but there were simply too many of them; it was like shooting at an endless wave. As soon as one fell, the others simply passed over it, caring nothing about the dead, advancing nonstop.

She knew exactly when they would finally arrive.

"Get ready!" Diana yelled, positioning her legs and putting all her strength on her shield arm.

And then they collided against the shield wall.

It was a wave of unstoppable force crashing against an immovable object. The sound alone was incredible, muscles and bones hitting the Border Tribe cape-barrier without a care for self-preservation, fists and claws hitting her own shield and some using their own skulls to attack Steve's vibranium one.

The Dora Milaje spears sunk deep in the first of them and they kept shooting, blowing up the abominations as they arrived; the Howling Commandos never stopped firing, their bullets passing by their ears and hitting the monsters.

But they never stopped advancing, the ones from behind pushing the ones on the front lines, forcing the corpses of the dead against their shield wall.

Diana was grunting with the effort, her muscles strained at the sheer force of the blue abominations as she held them with her shield. Steve, also, was almost overwhelmed, his vibranium shield absorbing the kinetic force of the blows and sending them back, the only reason he was able to hold them off for so long. The Border Tribe was also beginning to struggle, their cape-barrier starting to get overpowered.

When Diana saw the blue light of the cape-barrier fail, when she knew their shield wall would really break, King Azzuri jumped over them with his swords, landing in the middle of the creatures with a war-cry.

At the same time, the portable energy shields covering their sides were deactivated and the Wakandan cavalry charged against the monsters' flank, following their king into battle with a thunderous sound.

The Wakandan cavalry formed by armored rhinos, with long vibranium coated horns and vibranium plates covering their thick hides, ridden by fierce warriors with vibranium spears.

The rhinos trampled the blue abominations, shredding them apart with their sharp horns as the soldiers slashed left and right. The rest of the soldiers followed, their vibranium weapons sinking deep in the monsters in front of them as they flanked the mindless beasts still attacking the shield wall.

In that moment, fueled by their sheer bravery, Diana let out a battle-cry and pushed with all her strength.

The wave of blue abominations was simply pushed back, unable to resist her power, and then she was in the middle of them, her sword slashing nonstop, blood and limbs flying. In front of her, completely surrounded, Azzuri did the same, spinning his two sickle-like swords in a deadly dance, his vibranium armor protecting him from the monsters' claws and fists. Steve followed her, using his shield as a weapon to bash and slice, firing his rifle at the same time.

HYDRA had destroyed the Golden City, filled the Wakandans with despair and sadness, and those emotions turned into an unstoppable _fury_. There was no more fear, no more hesitation.

There was only an enemy to be defeated.

Diana blocked a strong bash from an abomination and retaliated with her sword, cutting the beast in half. By her side, Azzuri threw his swords against the monster in front of him, hitting it in the chest, only to proceed to fight with his vibranium claws until he finally pulled his weapons back; his cape was stained with blood and his armor had suffered all kinds of hits by now, but remained unscathed.

One of the rhinos was toppled up by a beast, the rider crushed, only for him to be promptly avenged by Steve and Aneka, his shield and her spear working incredibly well together as they defeated the monster. Bucky and Dugan fired nonstop, Ayo by their side, dropping every creature in their path. James was making use of his new vibranium claws, his roars even more terrifying than the beasts, as he slashed everything in front of him, ignoring his own wounds.

The growls and the snarling began to die down as the huge wave of abominations was cut down, their limbs and blood staining the grass. The vibranium blades worked incredibly well in close-quarters, cutting the very thick hide of the monsters as if it was nothing, and the vibranium armors and vests shielded the Wakandans from even the strongest of blows. The cavalry continued to trample everything in its way, the armored rhinos unstoppable even against that terrible enemy.

They'd lost people, their bodies broken by the creatures' fists and claws, but Diana knew that no other army in the Allied Forces would withstand that attack as well as the Wakandans did. The monstrosities were cut down, pierced, killed until the very ground was littered with their remains.

Before they could breathe in relief, however, a bomb fell amongst them, fired by the line of HYDRA tanks.

The first of many.

* * *

"Can you contact Azzuri already?!" Nanali asked for the fifth time.

Howard, holding a bunch of wires in his mouth and holding four different tools, couldn't answer even if he wanted to, too busy trying to restore communications.

They were wrong, the barrier didn't hold Mjölnir's attack. Or, more accurately, it did hold until a portal opened from nowhere, swallowed the blast and spat it out inside the dome, where it could hit the Golden City just fine.

The implications of what he witnessed to the science community were too many to count, it simply challenged _everything_ humanity thought they knew about physics. He would even go as far as to say it was impossible if he hadn't seen it happen with his own eyes. An honest to god wormhole had simply ripped the sky open and redirected the blast from HYDRA's weapon.

Howard had no idea how, but right now he didn't have the luxury to worry about it, not when the blast had destroyed all their communications _and_ the one thing keeping HYDRA's army out: the barrier.

All things considered, he supposed he should count himself lucky. A blast like that should have killed them all. It was only because of all that vibranium lining the lab that they were still alive; a normal bunker would've been vaporized, taking them all with it, he had no doubt.

As it were, the lab resisted with remarkable integrity. Sure, the lights went out for a few minutes, an annoying alarm was blaring, the equipment was tossed everywhere and there was fire on some of the computers, but the whole thing held up well.

There was, however, no time to celebrate. By now, HYDRA's forces had probably already attacked and Steve, Diana and the rest of the Howling Commandos were probably fighting for their lives. Meanwhile, the Mjölnir was probably recharging for a new shot that would definitely kill them all, the aerial reinforcement stationed in the Golden City was destroyed and the Wakandan army simply had no communication whatsoever.

Add that to the constant whining he was being subjected to by Peggy, Queen Nanali and her kids and Howard had all the motivation necessary to fix the damn communications as soon as he could.

To a genius like him, that meant it wouldn't take long until he succeeded. Or so he hoped.

"We need the sensors back on, Howard, so we know for certain how long we have until the Mjölnir fires again," Peggy argued as he tried to replace the burnt pieces.

"And I need to know if Azzuri is well," Nanali added.

"Where is papa?!" one of the two toddlers cried; with half his body inside the wall, Howard couldn't tell which.

There was a second of silence as he tried to reach one of the wires.

"What about you, Erik?" Howard spoke, his words jumbled by the screwdriver held between his teeth. "Want to complain a bit too? The more you whine, the faster things will go, I guarantee!"

The boy hesitated for a moment.

"No, sir," Erik finally answered, timid.

It apparently did the trick, though, because Peggy and Nanali shut up for a few glorious moments. He finally had a bit of peace to work.

"Okay," he said a few minutes later. "I think I got it… Gotta say, vibranium truly is a wonderful thing. No way these wires would have survived if they weren't coated by it."

And then, suddenly, there was light in the lab again.

"Communications should be back on," Howard announced. "So should the sensors."

It was everything the two women needed to hear.

* * *

"TORTOISE FORMATION!" Diana shouted, as the bombs began to drop from the sky on top of them. "PROTECT THE CAVALRY AND CHARGE!"

Steve watched as Diana led the Wakandan forces, seeing the soldiers entering formation as if accustomed to obeying her all their lives. He studied every single form of war in history, reading every single book he could get his hands on, but Steve honestly never thought he would actually witness an ancient battle strategy playing a part in WWII.

The Wakandans, as their hard training drilled in them, separated themselves in small groups, moving fast and organized even with the bombs falling. Several men had already laid down their lives in the first attack, broken apart by the blue abominations, and many more were dying before his eyes as the bombs fell, but they continued with a courage that was rare to find.

Moving as one, the groups organized themselves in lines and closed their ranks; as soon as that happened, the Border Tribe members used their capes to form a barrier, shielding their front, both flanks and the top, like a tortoise hiding inside its shell. An old battle formation the Romans used to advance against enemies shooting projectiles.

The Wakandans were using it to stop tanks' shells; vibranium truly was a marvelous substance.

Diana, King Azzuri and Steve were leading the three formations in front, moving slowly so they wouldn't break ranks, and the rest of the army followed. The cavalry – Steve still couldn't quite get used to calling a bunch of rhinos "cavalry" – was on the back, using the shielded troops to protect themselves.

The tank shells were exploding against their shields, the vibranium barrier doing a remarkable job of protecting them against the blast and the shrapnel, and little by little they advanced upon the line of HYDRA tanks firing upon them.

And when they got close enough, Azzuri shouted: "ATTACK!"

The tortoise formations broke and the Wakandans spread, running fast towards the tanks, Diana, Steve and Azzuri quickly gaining distance over the rest of the army. The Dora Milaje and the Howling Commandos were firing from afar and he saw three tanks blow up before they could get closer. The tanks were firing back against them; Steve saw Diana deflect a shell with her shield, tossing it to the side, and HYDRA soldiers were shooting from above the tanks.

That was when Diana arrived in fighting distance.

Instead of stopping, jumping over the tank to kill the soldiers or simply waiting for backup, Diana bashed the vehicle with her shield, putting all her strength behind the blow. The multi-ton tank was thrown away, rolling on the ground, Diana's shield perfectly imprinted on the steel. Azzuri was a bit less brutal, but just as effective, jumping over the tank and killing the soldiers with his swords, the vibranium cutting through steel so he could jump inside.

Steve stopped paying attention on them as he reached the tank in front of him. He deflected the blue energy blasts with his shield and threw it against the soldier shooting; jumping, he grabbed the shield back midair and before dropping, he tossed a grenade inside the tank, not even stopping to see the explosion as he moved on to the next.

The sonic blasts from the Dora Milaje spears worked like a charm, drilling massive holes on the tanks and the rhinos simply tore them apart with their vibranium horns, as the riders dealt with the soldiers firing upon them.

One by one, the tanks were destroyed and then there was nothing between them and HYDRA's main forces.

"SHIELD WALL!" Diana yelled again when the last tank was dealt with and everyone moved to obey her.

Quickly, the Border Tribe formed another shield wall, Diana and Steve in the middle, and started to advance towards the HYDRA army.

"Keep the formation!" Azzuri shouted, making sure the soldiers were well positioned.

Like in the first time, the Dora Milaje and the Howling Commandos were right behind them, weapons pointed front, and the rest of the army followed.

* * *

Azzuri was filled with a cold rage, with the need to destroy HYDRA, but he never lost his cool. Well equipped his army might be, but so was HYDRA's and any mistake now could mean the death of his people.

He did not know how long the city destroyer weapon would take to recharge, but they had to reach it before it could. The Golden City still stood, barely, but a second shot would wipe it out; or wipe _them_ out, depending of the intended target.

Princess Diana was leading the army, her sword red with blood. Like him, she was also furious, but she was one of the few that had not lost her senses when the city was hit. Azzuri had to admit that he probably would not be able to lead his forces right after that; without her, Wakanda might have been destroyed in the first wave of attack.

Captain Rogers and his Howling Commandos were also proving themselves invaluable. It was clear to him now that they had more fighting experience than any of his soldiers and that mattered. Strong the Wakandans may be, with incredible tech, but the Howling Commandos were fighting this war since the beginning. It was something to respect.

Azzuri looked up, seeing the blue glow of the charging city destroyer; he almost snarled, pressing the handle of his swords hard. They would destroy that, no matter what.

" _Can someone hear me? Azzuri?"_

That was the most beautiful voice Azzuri had ever heard in his life. And one he thought he would never hear again.

* * *

"Azzuri, do you copy?!" Nanali almost shouted, desperately, trying to appear a little bit composed for her children's sake.

" _Nanali, you are alive! How are T'Chaka and N'Jobu?"_

Relief filled her when there was an answer.

"The children are fine, we are all fine," she answered, patting the head of her two sons to keep them quiet. "The lab took a hit, but it still is in one piece. It took a while for Mr. Stark to reestablish communications."

"Well, excuse me!"

" _IS PEGGY ALRIGHT?"_ Diana's voice blared through the radio. Apparently no one told her she did not need to shout. " _AND WHAT OF ERIK?"_

"I'm fine, Princess, and so is Erik. How are you?" Peggy answered, smiling kindly, but wincing slightly.

By the sounds they were all hearing, they were most likely in combat now, which Mr. Stark promptly pointed out.

"Not to be impolite, but don't we have more important things to talk about than chit-chat?"

"Azzuri, listen to me," Nanali started, deadly serious now. "By Mr. Stark's estimates, you have about 30 minutes before that weapon can fire again. You have to destroy it before that."

" _30 minutes… That is not much time at all."_

"No, but I trust you, my King," Nanali said. "Now go and may Bast watch out over you."

* * *

The portal opened in front of the Wakandan Necropolis and Schmidt admired the sacred place for a moment; the Tesseract glowed slightly in his hand.

The Jewel of Odin's Treasure was inside a transparent container, shielding Schmidt's hand from its sheer power, but even then he could feel the energy emanating from the blue cube, almost as if he was holding the sun itself.

But as the Gods showed in his dreams, the Tesseract was more than the source of infinite energy.

Doctor Zola had discovered a way to store the cube's power and from that HYDRA was able to develop weapons and technology mankind had never imagined. This was, however, almost irrelevant to the real power the Tesseract contained, the power showed to him by the Gods as he slept.

The power over Space itself.

The Tesseract could open rifts into space, portals that could lead him and his troops anywhere, and even form impenetrable barriers. Powers that he learned to harness using technology almost by inspiration, dreams and ideas whispered into his very being.

Gifts bestowed upon him by the Gods, no doubt. Schmidt had never felt so sure of his actions.

It was a sign that he was right, that he was paving the way for a new age, an Age of Gods. They would return to this world once again and Schmidt would be the superior human to deliver it to them. HYDRA would, once again, restore divinity on this planet and lead mankind to new and higher purposes.

The appearance of Lady Diana proved that. A young Goddess possessing unbelievable power was testing his might. And he was certain that if HYDRA – if Schmidt himself – could show her their value, their strength, then she would lead them to glory.

But Diana would not be alone.

That was the purpose of this incursion, after all. Wakanda was a prize, certainly, with its technology and natural resources – a perfect gift to his future Goddess –, but his true objective there was much more important.

To bring forth another Goddess: Sekhmet, the Cheetah Goddess of Wrath.

If the stories and myths were correct, Sekhmet was one of the two Goddesses that created Wakanda. She was betrayed by her sister, the Panther Goddess Bast, and banished. Forsaken by her own people, Sekhmet was condemned to an eternity of suffering.

Not for long, however. Soon, Schmidt would free her and together they would build the foundations of a new world.

And then, Lady Diana would finally see their valor.

If the HYDRA troops attacking Wakanda right now to buy him time were the price Lady Diana demanded, well, it was a price Schmidt would happily pay.

Smiling, the blue light of the Tesseract shining upon his face, Schmidt entered the Necropolis.

* * *

Wilhelm Lohmer was marveled. He had just witnessed the Goddess Diana bash one of his soldiers using her shield with such strength that the man flew as high as the clouds, only to fall a few meters from where he was standing, at the rear of his forces.

He had never doubted Herr Schmidt's word, but seeing a Goddess with his own eyes was something completely different than hearing about it.

The Wakandan army was dazed by the brutal attack on the Golden City, but rallied by Lady Diana they managed to put themselves back in the fight quickly. They faced and defeated the Beasts losing just a few people – a feat no other army in this world could accomplish – and advanced on the rest of his army, making quick work of his tanks and finally engaging his troops.

And despite all the technology HYDRA had, things were not looking good. Luckily for Lohmer, he only needed to hold them back until the Mjölnir was ready to fire again. Then the battle would be his.

"Send forth the Iron Cross Division!" Lohmer ordered.

* * *

The only warning James Howlett had that something was wrong was the sunlight suddenly vanishing. He didn't even have the time to look up, before something _massive_ landed on top of him, breaking his body against the ground.

 _Son of a bitch!_

Silently cursing nonstop as he waited for his neck to heal, James tried to raise his head two times before he actually succeeded; what he saw impressed him and he wasn't a man easily impressed. What crashed him against the ground wasn't really a "what", but a "who", or at least he thought so. It was a man inside a huge metal armor, heavy, full of weapons and what seemed to be a big rocket thruster on his back.

The Iron Cross Division, he realized. HYDRA's shock troopers. James had never seen them before, but he'd definitely heard about their deeds. Always bloody.

As his bones healed themselves and James recovered from his concussion, he was forced to watch as several more of those armored men landed, also on top of the Wakandans; differently from him, they wouldn't get up again, he was certain of that. And then they began to shoot.

James saw some pretty brutal things over the course of his life, but the sheer power of the artillery that these armored men unleashed upon the Wakanda, at point-blank range, was unbelievable. Vibranium clothes or not, the Wakandans could not simply cover their entire bodies from head to toe and even those who tried could not fully block a barrage of bullets, energy shots, fire and explosives, all fired at the same time.

It was a massacre. The Wakandan troops around him were mown down into a pile of blood and meat in a few seconds.

He would enjoy cutting them to shreds.

As soon as his body was recovered, James roared and jumped out of the crater he was buried in, releasing his claws covered by the vibranium gauntlet Stark developed. The armored man who had landed on him didn't notice or simply couldn't turn around quickly enough; James sank his claws deep into the man's back, glad to see that his new vibranium gauntlet was enough to cut even an armor that dense.

He left the man gurgling in his own blood and turned, ready to attack the next one. By that moment, the Iron Cross Division had already noticed him and two of them raised their arms, pointing at him. James took six rounds to the chest before he could reach the first one, jumping to sink his claws in the man's helmet.

Before he could attack the next, however, he was hit in the back by an explosive shell.

James was tossed to the ground with barely a shred of consciousness left. He tried to breathe, but couldn't, his dazed state of mind uncapable of realizing that the reason he couldn't breathe was because he had no lungs left for it. His spine was shattered and some of his vital organs were splattered out of his body. Instant death to any normal human.

An inconvenient wait for James Howlett.

When he opened his eyes, maybe a few minutes after, he could see a huge armored foot just by his side; James took a long and satisfying breath and then slashed the man's foot out. The man fell, screaming in a metallic voice, only to be promptly silenced by his claws.

And then he attacked again, using the fact that the Iron Cross Division had their backs turned to him.

James killed five of them before one finally turned to face him.

* * *

Helmet Gruler, the leader of the Iron Cross Division, was not sure of what was happening.

The man in front of him had been crushed, shot and blown up and somehow he was still attacking, fiercely, like a wild animal. Except that this animal had vibranium claws, a metal that could cut even their thick armors. The Iron Cross Division had lost in a few minutes more soldiers than in any other battle they fought.

And all of them died facing a single man. This could not stand.

Pointing his right arm at the man, with a practiced easiness, Gruler let out a stream of fire against him. The flames completely engulfed the man and Gruler could tell he was hurt by them; his hair burned, his skin charred and he yelled and groaned like any other enemy he burned to death.

But he just wouldn't stop coming.

The clawed man braved the flames and swung at him blindingly, the vibranium slicing his flamethrower; the fuel spilled and Gruler had to quickly cut the flow so it wouldn't explode. The man was still attacking, swinging his claws madly even as his body was on fire.

So Gruler punched him, putting all the strength of his armor in the blow.

The man fell to the ground, broken, and there he stayed. Thinking for a moment, Gruler stepped on his back, breaking his spine for good measure, and turned around to face the rest of the Wakandan army.

The Iron Cross Division was advancing slowly. Their surprise attack dealt a heavy blow against the Wakandan soldiers, but now that they were aware of who their enemies were, they were fighting admirably. Their weapons were old-fashioned, but highly advanced at the same time, capable of unleashing sonic blasts strong enough to destroy their armors. Their blades cut deep and the Howling Commandos were firing bullets that could pierce them.

If it weren't for the new shields Doctor Zola developed, Gruler was certain the Iron Cross Division would already be destroyed.

Like their armors, the shields were massive, big enough to cover them entirely, not unlike the ones the ancient Romans used. But they weren't simply pieces of metal; that would've useless against vibranium. No, the shields were powered by the same energy their weapons used, coated with a blue layer, a barrier that could stop even vibranium blows. A weaker version of what they had used to protect the Mjölnir cannon, but strong enough to deal with more mundane weapons.

Gruler knew that those shields probably cost more than their entire armors, but so far they were worth it. Maybe in the future Zola could develop a barrier that would envelop the armor itself, making the shield useless, but for now they would do.

Grabbing his own shield, Gruler hid behind it just at the moment a sonic blast would hit him; he answered the attack by unleashing a barrage of energy shots against the Wakandans. But as soon as he tried to advance, something attacked him from behind. He turned fast, avoiding the intended target of the vibranium claws – the back of his head – by pure instinct.

It was the man once again. How was this possible?!

Raising his shield, he blocked the mad attack from the man's claws, the vibranium repelled by the blue barrier around his shield. The man wasn't only on his feet again, he was completely healed; even the burnt hair had grown back. What was that thing?

Pushing down his surprise – and fear –, he raised his arm and tried to shoot the man, but the sheer size of his armor made close-quarter attacks difficult, especially against a target so small and fast. The man danced around him, never stopping to attack, avoiding the trajectory of his bullets and then slashed his leg.

He felt the claws touch his skin; he couldn't remember the last time he was injured in battle.

Grunting in pain, Gruler tried to bash him with his shield, only to miss. The man rolled and slashed him again, this time on his back, destroying his thruster; Iron Cross Armors could not exactly fly, but they could take off and travel small distances. That option was taken from him.

Yelling in frustration, Gruler tried to tackle the man, using his heavy armor to crush him again; the man didn't try to evade him, he simply raised his claws.

Gruler felt the cold of the sharp metal enter his shoulder and the man used this as a stepping point to climb over him, landing on top of Gruler. And then he attacked again, using his other set of claws, slashing his helmet.

The claws cut off half of his helmet, exposing one of his eyes to the world, and then the man kicked him, _hard_. Gruler almost blacked out when the man's boot hit his head and he fell on his back, dizzy and in pain, the ground shaking when he landed. He looked up, the blood trickling down his cheeks, his exposed eye seeing the vivid colors his helmet usually filtered.

Seeing the man staring down at him.

"What _are_ you?!" Gruler asked, desperately.

The only answer he got was a set of vibranium claws through his eye.

* * *

The shaman Zawavari had his head down as he prayed for Wakanda, begging Bast for strength. War had finally reached their lands and his people was dying.

The huge Panther statue remained silent.

"There is nothing worse than looking up to the heavens and seeing nothing there, don't you think so, shaman?" a voice said from behind him.

Zawavari felt his blood turn cold. He turned, slowly, only to see what he already knew: the Red Skull. How was this possible? How could he be there, inside the sealed Necropolis? There was no explosion, no attempt to breach the City of the Dead, and yet he was there, inside Wakanda's most sacred place.

Instead of answering, Zawavari attacked, swinging his staff against the enemy like his old warrior-self did so many times before.

Schmidt barely reacted, simply shooting him in the stomach before he could have a chance of striking him.

Zawavari fell down, feeling the bullet inside him, his hands going to the wound. The Red Skull walked past him, barely acknowledging his existence anymore, too busy admiring the interior of the Necropolis.

"It is truly a pity your king chose to fight us," he said, eyes marveled. "From all the nations in this world, Wakanda is probably the only one that can understand how far humanity has fallen. How distant we allowed ourselves to go from the Gods."

The shaman tried to get up, the blood flowing from the bullet hole.

"Y-you talk about the gods," Zawavari coughed, "about how we strayed f-from them, and yet you are the one fighting against one."

The Red Skull looked at him, a bit of surprise on his face, almost as if he had forgotten Zawavari was even there to begin with.

"You presume to understand the Goddess Diana, shaman? To know her will?" Schmidt kneeled and grabbed Zawavari by the chin, forcing the shaman to look to his deformed face. "She wants peace. A world without flags where mankind can truly look beyond our wretched existence and become _more_. A world led by Gods."

He released Zawavari, letting his head fall down, and looked back at the Panther statue he was admiring.

"And I will give it to her," the Red Skull finished.

Despite the pain and his imminent death, Zawavari laughed.

"If that is what you think you are doing, then you truly are lost, pawn of War," the shaman chuckled, feeling the blood in his mouth. "Lady Diana was brought here by Bast to stop you… And before the war is over, she will pierce your heart with her sword, you have my word."

There was only silence after he said that and for a moment Zawavari thought Schmidt wouldn't say anything. Then he turned and grabbed him, rolling him over; he looked into his eyes again and Zawavari was certain he would die then.

He was at peace, dying in the very Necropolis he cared for; but not before he activated the small transmitter in his pocket, to alert his King of what was happening.

But death did not come.

"You are so certain that you understand the will of the gods, shaman… And yet your people betrayed your Goddess. You stood by and watched as the Panther Goddess banished the Cheetah and you did nothing. Do you believe she will look down at Wakanda and forgive you?"

Before Zawavari could answer, Schmidt ripped his robe and looked at his wound; he activated a small device, emitting a hot blue light.

And without a word of warning he burned Zawavari's wound with it.

The shaman's screams pierced the quietness of the Necropolis, echoing in the empty hallways, and he almost passed out as Schmidt cauterized his wound to stop the bleeding.

"I will allow you to ask for forgiveness in person, shaman," the Red Skull said, lifting him from the ground. "Then we will see how well you understand the will of the Gods."

Zawavari glanced at Bast's statue one last time, praying to the Panther Goddess so that she would send King Azzuri and Lady Diana there in time.

* * *

Azzuri was fighting back to back with Captain Rogers, battling hordes of HYDRA soldiers, vibranium swords and vibranium shield singing as they moved. The Super-Soldiers moved as if they were born fighting together, covering each other from the barrage of bullets and energy blasts and attacking with powerful and precise hits at the same time.

A never-ending symphony that left behind blood and corpses as they danced in the middle of HYDRA's army.

Rallied by James Howlett's bravery – and the sheer number of enemies the immortal man had defeated all by himself – his soldiers had regained their foothold in the battlefield, momentarily lost when the Iron Cross Division landed. They managed to install the portable barriers again, giving them a much-needed cover, and fight back, eventually pushing HYDRA's troops until they could finally attack with melee weapons.

The Howling Commandos and the Border Tribe were working together, Sergeant Barnes and the commander N'Tomo barking orders nonstop. The Dora Milaje were between the legions of HYDRA's soldiers, moving with such grace and speed that they seemed to be made of air, their vibranium spears cutting everyone in sight.

And Lady Diana… She had her own thing going on, ahead in the battlefield. She had somehow lassoed a soldier from the Iron Cross Division and was swinging him around her, using the multi-ton armor as a giant flail to bash dozens of enemy soldiers at the same time.

He doubted he would find that particular tactic in any military strategy book.

Azzuri was so concentrated in the battle that he almost missed the alarm that went off inside his helmet. Once his mind was able to interpret that, however, his entire being filled with fear.

The Red Skull was in the Necropolis.

He did not know how that was possible. He had seen three aircrafts flying over the battlefield, but the Necropolis was surrounded by anti-aircraft artillery; there was simply no way those three planes could have passed over the City of the Dead, it was impossible. And any other vehicle would take more time to arrive there, considering they even knew the way, which they did not.

More importantly, the Necropolis itself was sealed. Unless HYDRA had used another Mjölnir blast to open it – something they would have noticed – there was no way for them to get in.

And yet they were there or Zawavari would not have warned him. Azzuri needed to get there. He and Lady Diana.

It pained him to abandon the battlefield now, when so much depended on them, when they needed to reach the Mjölnir tank before it could fire again. But with Schmidt in the Necropolis, he had no option. If he was able to summon Sekhmet, they would lose the entire war.

He would have to trust Captain America, Aneka and his army to finish what they had started.

So pushing his doubts away, Azzuri opened communications with the main lab.

"Nanali, can you hear me?"

* * *

Peggy watched as the Queen of Wakanda ran to the communicator, pushed Howard to the side and quickly pressed the button to answer.

"I can hear you, Azzuri," Nanali said, fast. "What do you need?"

" _I just got a message from Zawavari. The Necropolis has been breached._ "

Agent Carter didn't truly understand what that meant, other than the fact that some HYDRA soldiers managed to invade Wakanda beyond the battlefield, but apparently that statement contained a lot more information than she was able to gather.

Nanali's expression of pure fear wouldn't have taken her face otherwise.

" _I need to be there, so does Lady Diana. But I cannot disengage from this battle and reach the Necropolis on foot. I need a quick evac."_

"What about the Mjölnir?" Peggy asked, quickly.

There was a second of silence.

" _I trust Captain Rogers to deal with that."_

That gave Peggy pause. Either the situation with the Necropolis truly was that dire or King Azzuri had come to trust them – or at least Steve – a great deal. If the Mjölnir wasn't stopped before it could fire, the Golden City was done for. There would be no more Wakanda after that. And the protector of the land of the Panther had just entrusted their very existence to an outsider.

She wasn't sure if she should feel honored or very, very afraid. Probably both.

"Howard, can you check if there are any aircrafts left?" Nanali asked.

"Already did," Howard answered, typing fast. One hangar with a single plane appeared on the screen. "This was the only one that survived the blast. It's in the hangar close to us, underground."

It was the very same aircraft that King Azzuri had used to take them inside Wakanda, on the day they arrived. Black, incredibly fast and capable of turning invisible; something Howard would give anything to study, she was certain.

And something none of them knew how to fly, if the strange controls she remembered seeing were anything to go by.

"The Royal Talon Flyer," Nanali whispered. Then her face became decided. "Wait for me, my King, I am coming to get you."

"You know how to fly it?" Peggy exclaimed, surprise.

The Queen smiled. "Who do you think taught Azzuri?"

Saying this, she ran to the nearby room, Peggy by her side. It was the same room where Howard had been developing new equipment to the Howling Commandos and it was full of Wakandan weapons and armor. Nanali, however, ignored those, going to the controls and passing her Kimoyo Beads over it.

A nearby wall opened fast, revealing mannequins dressed with Dora Milaje clothes, vibranium spears, Ring Blades and swords. Not even bothering to check if she was alone, Nanali quickly removed her own clothes and put on the Dora Milaje red vests, grabbed a spear, two Ring Blades and turned, looking at her.

"Are you coming with me?"

That was a question with an obvious answer; Peggy nodded and started to grab the pistols and rifles Howard had developed. As she checked her own equipment, Nanali talked with her two boys, telling them to stay with Erik and Howard, _inside_ the heavily armored lab.

Then they went to the lab exit, ready to run to the hangar, grab King Azzuri and Diana and go to this Necropolis. A simple and quick plan.

Of course, the first casualty of every war was the carefully laid plan.

When Nanali raised her hand to press the button that would open the door, there was an explosion. Peggy and Nanali jumped just at the moment part of the very heavy door came flying towards them and a pair of grenades were tossed in the lab.

"Fall back!" Nanali screamed, running to get her sons to the other room.

Peggy remained for enough time to see the grenades explode and release some kind of gas, then she ran after them, Erik pretty much dragging Howard to the other room.

Why were things never simple?

* * *

Julia Koenig, AKA Warrior Woman, was an assassin and a master infiltrator. She had accomplished dozens of missions, infiltrated places no one else had, taken nations from the inside out.

To one such as her, finding Wakanda's command center was not difficult, especially when most of the city had been destroyed by Mjölnir's blast. All she had to do was follow the trail of electricity; there was only one place in the whole town that still had power and she was looking at it.

The mission was simple: find the King's family and capture them. Kill whoever gets in the way.

If Julia wasn't such a stern woman, she would have laughed. Her husband could be a master strategist, but he did not understand people like she did. King Azzuri no doubt loved his family, but he would not cease his defense not even to save them, she knew it. Too much honor. He would hate himself, of course, but if it meant that his kingdom would live, then his family – himself included – were meaningless.

A mindset she could respect, if she cared to do so.

But a mission given, was a mission accomplished. Julia Koenig would find Azzuri's family and take them out of the city. Wilhelm would try to bargain and end the conflict before he had to fire the Mjölnir a second time, the King of Wakanda would refuse and then she would kill them.

That was how things would go.

"Is this the place?" Ophelia Sarkissian, the Madame HYDRA, asked as they arrived in front of a huge metal door.

Julia Koenig nodded, grabbing her explosives and setting them on the door's surface. She was a woman that feared nothing, least of all death, but even so she would have to admit that Madame HYDRA unsettled her. The woman was even colder than her, calculating, like a serpent in human form.

She was certain Herr Schmidt had put her there, with them, as much to assure their victory as to punish them if they failed. A poisoned blade on their backs to keep them going forward.

It did not matter, in the end. No one there had any intention of betraying Herr Schmidt or HYDRA. And while Ophelia Sarkissian might be unsettling, she also shared that loyalty. They would win this battle, wipe Wakanda off the map if necessary, then finish their mission and conquer the world.

A world ruled by the divine. Julie Koenig was practical and not likely to suffer any bouts of religiosity, but even she admitted that the world as it was could not go on. They needed order, they needed to purge the bad seeds and clean the Earth.

If spilling blood in HYDRA's name would achieve that, then she would gladly do so. She was an assassin, but she much rather kill for a cause than for no reason at all.

Finishing to set the explosives, Julia took cover, readied her sniper-rifle and pressed the detonator.

The big door, already damaged in the Mjölnir blast, was ripped from its hinges. Time to fight.

* * *

Peggy secured the gas-mask on her face, after making sure Erik had put his on correctly, and pointed her rifle to the entrance. Behind her, Nanali did the same for her scared sons, as Howard took cover behind a table, perhaps even more out of place in a battlefield than the kids.

She couldn't see anything through the greenish gas that filled the other room. Apparently, whoever was attacking them didn't suffer from the same problem, because a loud gunshot echoed and the bullet passed inches away from her ear.

"Howard, can you do something about that gas?!" Peggy shouted, dropping behind the cover.

"What do you want me to do? Blow it away?" he retorted, as Peggy fired blindly. "Wait a second, that's actually a good idea. Cover me!"

Peggy had no idea what he meant, but as he stood and ran to a nearby terminal, she fired again, trying to keep the enemy busy. The sniper fired back, missing her by inches once again, but Peggy didn't stop until Howard was out of sight.

They exchanged a few blind shots for a minute and then Howard yelled: "A-Ha!"

A weird – and loud – sound took the room as the exhaust fans turned on, sucking out all the gas in the room in a few seconds.

Peggy met the eyes of the HYDRA sniper for the first time, both perfectly targeted by each other guns. They fired at the same time and ducked.

A second later, Nanali jumped out of cover and attacked, her vibranium spear firing a powerful sonic blast that simply blew up the enemy's cover. Shouting a war-cry, the Wakandan Queen ran towards the HYDRA soldiers, as Peggy fired nonstop to keep the sniper unable to shoot.

Before the Queen could reach the blond sniper, however, another woman appeared out of nowhere, kicking Nanali and attacking her with two daggers.

Peggy watched only for enough time to see that the woman fighting the Queen was _very_ skilled and ran to the other room as well, searching for the sniper; she found her quickly enough, when the woman jumped on her, dropping both of them on the ground.

Weapons forgotten, both women began trading punches, every bit of tactic forgotten as they fought for their lives.

* * *

Nanali had no idea who the woman attacking her was, but she was good. More than that, she was enhanced; she would know, she was married to a Super-Soldier. The dark-haired assassin was not as strong or fast as Azzuri was, not by a long shot, but she was definitely as strong as a big man and if Nanali wasn't covered head to toe with vibranium clad vests she would be already hurt.

The assassin evaded her spear with incredible agility and kicked her again, hard, tossing her back; Nanali snarled, cursing her own lack of training for this. If she had kept herself in the same training schedule she had when she was a Dora Milaje, chances were this fight would be easier.

As it was, Nanali was struggling to keep up, the HYDRA assassin dancing with her two knives as if they were a part of her.

Growling, the Queen threw her spear against the assassin – expecting to miss but getting frustrated when she realized how easy it was for her to dodge – and switched to her Ring Blades. Two vibranium discs, sharp and deadly, much faster than her spear could ever hope to be in close distance.

Approaching fast, Nanali attacked, her body naturally remembering the old training as she swung the sharp weapons, finally forcing the HYDRA assassin to retreat a bit. Both of them clashed in a barrage of fast attacks, dodging and hitting almost simultaneously, their minds completely taken by the battle. It was a matter of time until someone made a fatal mistake.

That was when someone shot her in the stomach.

Nanali didn't see it coming, completely absorbed in the fight, trusting Agent Carter to deal with the other adversary. But the shot didn't come from the woman facing Agent Carter, nor it came from the assassin fighting her; it came from the man outside the lab, pointing a sniper-rifle at her from afar.

The bullet didn't penetrate completely her vibranium clad vests, but the power behind it was more than enough to pierce it partially, the huge bullet sinking in her flesh with unbelievable power. Nanali was tossed back, out of breath, falling on the ground almost unconscious.

Taking the opening, the HYDRA assassin stabbed her in the exact same place, the blade passing through the damaged cloth with ease and entering her side.

Nanali did not have enough air in her lungs to scream.

* * *

Peggy was more than aware that the blond assassin would have kicked her ass a few months ago. She was strong, well trained, ruthless and sadistic, a perfect combination of qualities that would make a winning warrior.

But she had not been extensively trained by an Amazon like Peggy had.

Almost every day Diana and Peggy were together, they trained. Peggy was always good in hand-to-hand combat – much for the displeasure of her mother –, but it was only when pitched against a master that she realized how little she actually knew about fighting. Diana simply destroyed her without any difficulty whatsoever the first time they sparred and not because she was faster and stronger.

But because she was a warrior trained since birth, with skills honed by legendary masters, if her stories were to be believed.

Liking it or not, Peggy realized she needed to get better and Diana was not against teaching her.

Peggy understood just now how much she had learned.

The blond assassin was good, more than good in fact; but she was no Diana and Peggy was more than used to fighting the Amazon Princess by now. When they fell to the ground, weapons forgotten, the blond assassin was pretty much certain she would have an edge over Peggy.

She was wrong.

As soon as they fell, Peggy twisted her body quickly, blocked the assassin's punches, headbutted her and in a move taught by Diana, she enveloped her legs around the assassin's neck, pressed her carotid artery and simply waited.

In ten seconds, HYDRA's assassin stopped struggling, passing out; Peggy grinned.

Then she heard a gunshot and Nanali fell.

* * *

Nanali gritted her teeth, grabbed the assassin's hand and kicked her away with all her strength. In the seconds of opportunity she gained, she tossed her Ring Blade against the sniper at the door, already turning to defend herself from another knife attack from the assassin. She heard the Ring Blade cut off the sniper's hand – the yells of pain unmistakable – just as she raised her arms to hold the knife attack, ignoring the pain as she held the woman's hands, preventing the knife from coming down and hitting her again.

She also heard her Ring Blade coming back, called by the magnetic bracelet around her wrist; the assassin trying to hit her with the knife didn't.

The vibranium disc hit the woman's back, cutting her flesh like butter, covering Nanali's face with blood. The woman froze, her mouth opened in a silent scream, her eyes completely wide with surprise and pain.

At that moment, Peggy shot her, blowing up her head. Nanali was not a violent person, but she could not help but to smile.

* * *

"Don't move, you're hurt!" Peggy exclaimed, running towards Nanali.

The third attacker had retreated somewhere, after having his hand cut off by Nanali's vibranium disc. Peggy thought of pursuing him, but treating Nanali's wound was more important; the man would not go far with that kind of injury, not with so much lost blood, and the unconscious blond assassin would not go anywhere after Peggy restrained her. They could find the man later, or at least his body.

"It is not that bad," Nanali argued, wincing.

"You were shot and stabbed in the same place," Peggy deadpanned. "It _is_ that bad. Stay there, I'll get the first-aid kit. Howard!"

Cleaning and dressing the Queen's wound was quick, but Peggy knew it wouldn't be enough. Regardless of what Nanali said, it was a bad injury, but worse than that, Peggy feared the blade might have been carrying some kind of poison.

There was no way Nanali would be burning up from an infection so fast. Her fever was coming from somewhere else.

"Help me up," Nanali asked, as soon as they finished.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Howard argued. "We should take you to–"

"To where, Mr. Stark? The hospital? I am afraid there is no hospital anymore and there won't be a Wakanda for much longer if I stay here. Azzuri needs my help."

All true, Peggy reluctantly admitted. But that didn't make the situation any easier.

Nanali turned to her.

"Agent Car– Peggy, please help me up," Nanali asked.

Nodding, she did so, ignoring the expression of pain in the Queen's face. Erik was keeping her two sons away in the other room, but the boys weren't stupid, they knew something was wrong. And in no time they managed to escape Erik and go to their mom.

"Mom!" T'Chaka yelled. N'Jobu simply hugged her.

"Shh, it is alright now," Nanali whispered, hugging them. "It is alright. Were you two brave like your father?"

They both nodded, unwilling to part with their mother. She hugged them for a few more seconds, then looked at Peggy. Time was up.

"Boys, I need to go now, to help your father," she said, softly. "You will stay with Mr. Stark, Erik and Peggy."

That surprised her.

"I thought I was going with you," she asked.

Nanali did not say anything, but her desperate look told Peggy enough. She needed someone there to protect her children in case anyone else attacked. Since she was the only one who could fly that aircraft and Peggy was the only other person there who could fight, their options were limited.

Peggy did not like that one bit, but she agreed; it was the least she could do.

Before Nanali could leave, however, Howard entered the room.

"I have good new and bad news," he announced. She rolled her eyes in despair. "Good news first: the recent explosion that opened the lab's door was controlled and didn't damage the hangar in any way, despite a few shakes."

That was relieving.

"And the bad news?" Peggy asked.

"The hangar is fine, the door leading to it isn't," Howard completed. "And unfortunately there isn't a crowbar in this world capable of opening a multi-ton metal door." He hesitated, for the first time appearing a bit lost. "I don't know what to do."

Peggy was at loss too, but Nanali seemed unbothered; the Queen was even smiling.

"There is, however, such a crowbar, Mr. Stark," Nanali said. "And _he_ is standing just by your side."

Everybody was confused for a moment, before they all turned to look simultaneously at Erik.

The boy clearly didn't know what to think of the sudden attention, if the blush on his cheeks was anything to go by.

* * *

"Okay, kid, you're up," Mr. Stark said, slapping Erik's back. "Open Sesame this thing for us."

Erik said nothing, he just stared at the _immense_ metal door in front of them, easily big enough to allow entire planes through it. It should weight, easily, several tons and there was simply no way for something like that to be opened by anything but a very powerful machine.

And the outcome of this battle depended on Erik opening it by himself. No pressure.

"Erik… Try to focus," Agent Carter started, uncertain. "Just do your best. We don't need you to lift the entire thing, just enough for Queen Nanali to pass through."

Instead of having to lift tons of metal to completely open the door, Erik would have to lift tons of metal to open just a little bit of that same door. That was better; not much better, but better.

"Alright, I'll give it a try," Erik said, breathing deep. "Just, uh, stand back a little bit."

As if they were one, Mr. Stark, Agent Carter, Queen Nanali, T'Chaka and N'Jobu stepped back. Erik looked at the door, feeling very intimidated by it, and close his eyes; he raised both hands. And unleashed his power.

The door started to tremble, slowly at first, then stronger, until the whole corridor was shaking. The lightbulbs still working started to flicker on and off and every piece of metal around started to float. Erik started sweating, his muscles tensed; the door started to open, lifting slowly.

And then, all of a sudden, Erik lost his grasp and everything fell.

"I-I can't… It's too heavy," Erik breathed, feeling tired in his bones. "I'm sorry."

He didn't look up, afraid to meet their disappointed eyes. Erik hated the very thought of letting them down. They had saved his life, protected him, cared for him… And when he had the opportunity of doing the same for them, he lacked strength.

Surprisingly, no one seemed disappointed in him.

Queen Nanali smiled kindly, getting closer and raising a closed hand.

"Erik, remember what we discussed?" she asked.

Before he could answer, she opened her hand: on the palm of her hand was a vibranium chess piece. The King piece, in the form of the Black Panther.

 _One day you will have a choice. To run and hide from those who wish you and yours harm or to become strong enough to defend yourself and all of them._

That was the time to make that choice. Be a King and protect his people or to give up and allow everyone to die.

Erik would be King. He grabbed the chess piece.

Closing his eyes, determination filling every fiber of his body, Erik stepped forward, raising both hands. He could feel every particle of metal around him, taste the differences between them, until there was no difference between his own body and all the metal. Erik could sense the vibranium imbued in the door, amongst the hard steel, and he focused on it.

And then he unleashed every bit of his power.

He didn't realize he was screaming nor that he had opened his eyes. There was nothing but him and the metal door he needed to lift. The vibranium rippled across the door like water and the steel began to bend. And little by little, tons of metal started to raise up.

Somewhere inside his mind, far away, Erik saw Queen Nanali crawling and rolling, passing through the small entrance he'd lifted.

When he was certain she was in, Erik let go. He was already asleep before the huge door came crashing down once again.

The King piece was firmly held in his hand.

* * *

Diana was moving faster than she ever did before, deflecting energy blasts back to the HYDRA troops, brutally kicking the few who managed to approach, keeping the enemy army at bay almost by herself while she waited for evac.

Somehow, Ares had already breached Wakanda's defenses and had defiled the Necropolis with his presence. He could be summoning Sekhmet right at this moment and she was busy battling mortals.

She knew how important this was, of course, HYDRA needed to be stopped and the Mjölnir could not be allowed to shoot again, but all that paled in comparison to the chaos Sekhmet would bring to this world.

Diana needed to get to the Necropolis and if Queen Nanali took any longer to arrive, she would have to run there.

Abandoning the Wakandan army – abandoning Steve – was the last thing she wanted to do, but at the moment there was no option. She was the only one who could kill Ares, the only one who could pierce his heart with the Godkiller sword and end his reign of terror. HYDRA's army, however, strong as it was, was still composed by mortals and could be defeated by mortals.

Captain America and the Howling Commandos, fighting side by side with the Wakandan army, were strong enough to win. Diana had to believe that.

That was when she finally heard it, the sound of King Azzuri's jet splitting the sky towards them; Diana was torn between feeling relieved and slightly panicked at leaving. Still deflecting the energy blasts nonstop, Diana searched for Steve in the battlefield, meeting his eyes. He smiled and nodded.

Swallowing her doubts, Diana nodded in response; and quickly jumped back, behind the Wakandan army line.

Just in time, because Nanali decided to clear the battlefield before flying over it, so there would be no risk of her being shot down. The Wakandan Queen simply unleashed a bullet rain over the HYDRA soldiers, finishing it with two missiles that exploded in a cloud of dust and smoke; hopefully enough to give them enough time to embark and leave, before HYDRA started shooting back.

Hovering on top of the Wakandan army, Nanali opened the black aircraft and waited. Almost simultaneously, Diana and Azzuri jumped in, flying towards the Necropolis.

Diana prayed to Hera that Steve would finish the job and walk out unharmed.

* * *

Steve watched the King's plane fly away with Diana and King Azzuri, feeling a touch of fear for her. Somehow Schmidt had infiltrated the city and was planned something big, something that would require Diana's help.

He just hoped she would be able to end the Red Skull and be alright.

But right now he had his own troubles to deal with: they needed to reach the Mjölnir cannon before it could recharge. And according to his calculations, they had 15 minutes to do so.

They would need to attack it directly, otherwise there would be no time left.

Steve could think of only one way to achieve that: distraction and speed. Luckily for him, one of the Howling Commandos was quite good at distractions.

"Jacques!" Steve yelled. "Prepare to set that bomb Howard made. I need to reach that cannon!"

To say the French explosives expert was delighted would be an understatement. As Jacques Dernier was busy with the bomb, Steve started to bark orders, bringing closer to him all the best warriors they had available. Bucky, Dugan and the rest of the Commandos were there, as well as the Dora Milaje, leaded by Aneka, N'Tomo and James Howlett.

Steve needed to a path across the sea of HYDRA soldiers; those men and women would make him one.

"Prepare to detonate in 10 seconds," Steve ordered, approaching to grab the big and menacing bomb.

When Jacques did so, Steve prepared himself; and using all his strength he launched the bomb right in the middle of the HYDRA troops, as far as his Super-Soldier strength permitted.

"SHIELD WALL!" he yelled and the Border Tribe closed ranks, forming their cape-barrier.

 _BOOOOOOM!_

* * *

Wilhelm Lohmer felt the shockwaves of whatever Captain Rogers threw at his troops hit him square in the chest. He was far away from it, safely behind all his soldiers, and he was still tossed back, almost falling.

There were a few seconds of silence, as the smoke and the dust settled, and then Lohmer managed to look at what happened.

The ones close to the explosion were simply blown up beyond recognition, the impact of the bomb burning them all to cinders and leaving a huge crater. The flames spread, setting on fire a lot of his soldiers, but the real damage was in the shockwave the bomb generated. The ones that escaped being burned were thrown away, with broken bones and destroyed weapons, flying so far away from the point of impact that the battlefield seemed to empty on that point.

Lohmer was not expecting that. The Wakandans had already thrown explosives at them, mostly grenades, but something of that magnitude was simply unthinkable. Small, powerful and incredibly destructive; no doubt created by Howard Stark.

To think that they were brave – or stupid enough – to enter the battlefield carrying something like this… If things had gone differently, maybe their own soldiers would have been blown up.

No matter. Huge explosion or not, his army would simply close ranks once again and continue fighting. They would not be caught up in this situation again, not when Captain Rogers was clearly the only one that could throw the bomb so far and not when the probability of them carrying more than one explosive that powerful was so low.

He needed to hold for about 10 minutes and then all of this would be over. Given that Julia and Madame HYDRA were still not back with his hostages, he would fire over his own troops, directly at the city, and all taste for battle would vanish from the Wakandans; or he could simply shoot their army and end this once and for all, also a good idea.

His troops were, after all, prepared to die for HYDRA.

Before he could give any order, however, he heard a commotion. As his soldiers were still trying to regain their bearings, no doubt dizzy from the explosion, the Wakandan shield wall suddenly opened.

And a cavalry of vibranium clad rhinos appeared, charging against his army, Captain Rogers leading them.

* * *

Steve had his shield in front of him and a pistol firmly held in his other hand, as he rode the armored rhino through HYDRA's troops. The animal was completely covered in vibranium, from its horn to its paws, and any shot in its direction was deflected away; the soldiers in front of it were simple trampled, as Steve fired against those preparing to shoot against them.

Behind him, the rest of his team followed. Ayo and Bucky rode together, firing bullets and sonic blasts nonstop; Aneka rode alone, swinging her spear as she opened a path; N'Tomo and Dugan shared another, the big commander of the Border Tribe slashing the enemy soldiers with his vibranium sword as Dugan unleashed explosive bullets everywhere; James Howlett was also alone, his claws red with blood.

HYDRA's army was still dazed and most of them were still on the ground, so they took the opportunity to attack, making a direct path to Mjölnir, as if they were crossing a parted sea.

Steve could see the big tank clearly, Mjölnir mounted on its top, surrounded by the blue barrier. Around it, several HYDRA soldiers stood guard, weapons raised to greet them. Steve's eyes, however, were fixed on one man: Wilhelm Lohmer, the commander of HYDRA's forces.

Shooting fast, he killed some of the soldiers firing against him and turned the rhino towards Lohmer; if someone knew how to open this barrier, then it was definitely him.

The blond commander started to fire against him, but Steve had already jumped, allowing the rhino to follow its path of destruction as he landed in front of Lohmer. Deflecting two energy blasts – making sure they weren't sent back to Lohmer – Steve threw his shield against the HYDRA's commander, hitting his rifle.

And moving as fast as only a Super-Soldier could, Steve dashed forward, punching him.

To his surprise, Lohmer held his fist with no difficulty whatsoever; and punched back, strongly enough to kill a normal human.

A Super-Soldier?! How? Did HYDRA managed to finish the Serum?

"Don't be so shocked, Captain Rogers, you are still unique," Lohmer said, as if reading Steve's questions on his face.

Then he looked at his own arm; Steve finally saw a syringe plunged there. Lohmer looked resigned.

"Mjölnir is locked to fire upon the Golden City," Lohmer continued. "Without it, Wakanda will not survive another invasion. HYDRA will have troops of Beasts ready to be deployed soon enough and there always more soldiers. It is only a matter of time before Wakanda is conquered." He removed the syringe and tossed it away. "Herr Schmidt will take care of the rest."

"Do you really think I'll allow that to happen?" Steve asked, staring at Lohmer. "My men surrounded the cannon, I have more than enough time to bring the barrier down."

Lohmer stared back at him and Steve was surprised to see the blue veins starting to take his neck and face; his eyes turned completely black.

"No, Captain," Lohmer spoke, his voice deeper than usual, "you won't have time. You have already lost."

Then he started to scream. Right in front of Steve's eyes, Lohmer's body began to change. His limbs grew longer, uneven, his muscles became so large that his black uniform was ripped to shreds, his skeleton grew thicker and denser.

He was turning into one of those blue abominations!

The moment Steve realized that, Lohmer roared and attacked, his fist hitting the vibranium shield with incredible strength. The Wakandan metal absorbed the power behind it, allowing Steve to hold still, but his surprise prevented him to react when Lohmer grabbed him and tossed him away, sending him rolling against the ground.

Steve clashed strongly against the grass, trying to stop; around him, his soldiers fought as well, trying to secure a perimeter around the Mjölnir, but he barely noticed that, eyes fixed on the blue abomination taking form in front of him.

Lohmer was still growing, still roaring, his clothes now completely shredded. He was almost three meters tall, filled with huge muscles, his arms growing long as a gorilla's. The skin was already blue.

The HYDRA commander looked at him and Steve saw no sign of any intelligence left. Lohmer was gone, leaving behind only a monster.

Grabbing his rifle, Steve started shooting at the same moment Lohmer attacked. The vibranium bullets penetrated his skin, but aside from making him even madder, they didn't do anything. Steve rolled to avoid his huge fist, using the shield to bash his head with all his strength; it dazed Lohmer, giving Steve time to jump back, but it didn't do any damage.

" _Steve, not to hurry you, but we have less than 10 minutes!"_ he heard Howard yelling on the radio, as he dodged another powerful swing.

"I'm working on it!" Steve yelled back, shooting the monster's face with his pistol.

" _Work faster!"_ Peggy yelled.

Things must've been truly dire for them to agree like that.

Thinking fast, Steve ran towards the barrier surrounding the Mjölnir, Lohmer galloping after him. Maybe he could solve both problems at the same time.

"Aneka, can you hear me?" Steve shouted, shooting blindly to try to delay Lohmer from getting to him.

" _I hear you, Captain."_

"I need your help here. I have something big for your rhino to hit."

He didn't wait for Aneka to answer, doubling his efforts in getting to the barrier. If Wakanda's barrier was any indication, they could be overpowered, if enough power was applied against it. The barrier surrounding the tank was different, but similar and he doubted it was stronger. Something dense and resistant could, probably, cross it.

Something like an almost invulnerable abomination.

Feeling the creature's hot breath on his back, Steve rolled and lifted his shield, bashing Lohmer in the head and stopping him just a few meters away from the barrier. Sinking his feet in the ground, Steve used all his strength to hold Lohmer, pushing the shield against his face as he shot him in the legs.

Just when he thought he would be tossed away, he heard Aneka approaching from behind Lohmer; better yet, he heard her huge and strong rhino approaching. Moving fast, Steve grabbed the strongest explosive he had – a weaker bomb than the one they blew up, but still strong enough to destroy a tank –, activated it and stuffed it inside Lohmer's mouth.

Steve jumped out of the way just at the moment Aneka's rhino clashed against Lohmer's back, sinking his vibranium horn in his spine and pushing it with unbelievable strength against the barrier.

Lohmer's thick, blue skin burned when he touched the barrier, but didn't simply vaporize like the other things they threw against it. The rhino kept pushing, forcing the abomination against it, pressing Lohmer so strongly that his face actually crossed the barrier.

Shouting, Steve raised his shield and used all his strength to help, bashing Lohmer's back with all the power of his Super-Soldier body.

And then Lohmer was in, smoke coming out of his burned skin.

"TAKE COVER!" Steve yelled, running away from the barrier with Aneka.

A few seconds later, an explosion filled the inside of the barrier, destroying everything in it. For the second time in that battle, the shockwaves sent everyone down.

They had done it!

* * *

Schmidt put the Tesseract right in front of the Cheetah statue, inside Sekhmet's temple. The cube glowed stronger than the braziers, filling the dark room with its blue light. Zawavari was in the middle of the room, dazed with pain, as he watched the ritual.

Except nothing was happening.

"Why isn't this working?!" Schmidt roared, glancing at the unresponsive cube. "I did everything right! I brought the Tesseract like you told me to!"

Zawavari had no idea with whom he was speaking, but he didn't have enough strength to ask. All he could do was watch as the Red Skull tried to make his ritual work, unsuccessfully. Maybe his prayers had been answered and Bast herself had stopped the summoning. Maybe Schmidt was simply crazy.

He did not know.

Before he could think of anything else, however, Zawavari was suddenly filled with a deep terror, a fear so thick that he almost had trouble breathing. He had no idea what was happening, what this thing was, but one thing he was certain of.

Whatever it was, it was truly _evil_.

Opening his eyes, his entire body trembling, Zawavari saw a dark presence taking form in the room, entering the temple. Schmidt, somehow, remained oblivious as the figure walked closer, his steps echoing in the room.

Ares, the God of War.

Zawavari knew it to be true. The God of War was an imposing being, clad in a fearsome black armor with a four-horned helmet. His eyes glowed like fire and his very presence was enough to chill him to the core. Despair filled him like anything he had ever felt. Zawavari couldn't take this, he just needed out, even if he had to slit his own throat to get away.

And then, suddenly, a calm presence took him, washing away the despair. A familiar shape took form on the opposite side.

Bast, the Panther Goddess, walking slowly and silently to face Ares.

The God of War and the Panther Goddess stopped, Schmidt, Zawavari and the Tesseract in the middle of them.

"It is good to see you again, Bast, after all this time," Ares said, breaking the silence, his voice so terrible that Zawavari wanted to cry. "Even if you are here as little more than a ghost."

Schmidt continued oblivious to the conversation, as he tried to make his ritual work. Bast, in her immense panther form, stared back at the God of War.

"I wish I could say the same, Ares," Bast answered, her sagely voice sending a balm of calm over the shaman. She glanced over Schmidt. "Are you certain of what you are about to do? My sister will burn this entire Realm, you included, if you bring her forth."

Ares laughed, amused. "I am counting on it."

"That is," Bast continued, as if he hadn't interrupted her, "if your sister does not stop her first." She stared at Ares with her blue eyes. "I trust Diana to do so."

"Yes, the Godkiller, my father greatest weapon," Ares gloated. "I can wield any weapon, Bast. Can you imagine what I will accomplish with her by my side? A Goddess that can slay any God? Heliopolis will surely be fun to visit. You escaped me once, you will not do so again."

Bast simply shook her giant head.

"Your arrogance cost you a lot before, Ares. It will cost you everything this time."

"If you are so certain, why do you not cross to this Realm once again?" Ares mocked. "To see with your own eyes my inevitable defeat? Why would you watch it all the way from the Astral Dimension?"

"It is not my destiny to kill you, Ares," the Panther Goddess responded. "But mark my words, you will die."

Saying this, Bast walked around Schmidt and the Tesseract, completely ignoring Ares; until she stopped right in front of Zawavari. She touched the shaman's face with her nose.

"I am sorry, little one," Bast said, softly. "You did not deserve to die like this."

 _Die?_

Zawavari was confused. He looked down at himself, at his body, but he couldn't move, couldn't feel anything. He was not breathing.

"I will guide you into the Green Veld, where you can cross to the afterlife," Bast whispered, opening her mouth as if she was going to bite him. Instead of feeling her teeth, however, Zawavari felt himself being dragged from his body, gently. He was not afraid. "You will run forever with your ancestors."

Zawavari felt only peace and then he saw nothing.

* * *

Azzuri landed the aircraft close to the Necropolis and they disembarked fast, running towards the City of the Dead.

Nanali, injured from a battle she fought side by side with Peggy, remained in the plane, resting. Her bleeding was contained, but more worrying than that was the fever; that was not normal. Whatever they hit her with, she was not reacting well to it and Azzuri was worried.

Right now, however, they could not do anything about it, but pray. Ares was inside the Necropolis, Diana could feel it, and they would fight.

She followed Azzuri through the dark hallways, running the familiar path she had already traced before. They passed the Heart-Shaped Herb garden, the statues of the gods, the several rooms… Until Diana finally began to hear something.

When they arrived at Sekhmet's temple, Diana was shocked to her core.

In the middle of the temple, in front of the vibranium Cheetah statue, a blue portal was opened. The portal sang a weird symphony, glowing bright, answering to the Tesseract placed in front of it.

That was when she saw him: Ares' human form, the Red Skull. She unsheathed her sword.

Before she could make any move towards him, however, the whole temple shook. Diana and King Azzuri turned their attention to the portal. More accurately, to the huge form walking through the portal.

A _huge_ orange Cheetah, covered in flames, her claws breaking the ground as she walked.

Sekhmet, the Cheetah Goddess of Wrath, had arrived in their world.

* * *

 **Hey guys, long time no see! So, finally, the first part of the end of the Wakanda arc is here. The second one is almost finished as well, I'll post it soon.**

 **To the people who read Avengers of Steel, I'm already working on the new chapter, I just got caught up writing the ending of the Wakanda arc and busy with work, but I'll update it soon.**

 **Sorry for everyone that talked to me these days, this beginning of the year has been crazy. I'll answer as soon as I can.**

 **Thanks for everything guys, I hope you like it!**


	23. Chapter 23 - Cheetah

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 23 – Cheetah**

 **Wakanda, Necropolis, Temple of Sekhmet – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Diana stood very still, almost incapable of moving, her eyes fixed on Sekhmet: a goddess in the flesh, the very first she had ever seen in their world. A relic of a different age.

Sekhmet, much like Bast in the Astral Dimension, was simply gigantic. A Cheetah much bigger than a tank, with claws and fangs longer than her sword, impressive muscles covered by an orange fur full of black spots and red eyes that glowed in the dark temple.

Flames burned around her, like a living cloak, the heat reaching Diana even from afar.

No one spoke or moved. The only sounds in the room came from Sekhmet's flames and her deep breathing, taking the temple completely when she exhaled. Diana, Azzuri and Schmidt only stared, quietly.

Suddenly, Sekhmet tensed her muscles, her sharp claws breaking the ground, and the flames surrounded her completely. The glow was so strong that even Diana was almost blinded, but she never took the eyes from the goddess, even for a moment.

When the glow faded, the huge feline was gone and in its place was what seemed to be a hybrid of a woman and a cheetah. A woman, much taller than Diana herself – much taller than any man Diana saw before –, covered in the same spotted orange fur, with dark claws, a long tail and red hair that reached her waist. Sekhmet was not wearing anything, much like in her cheetah form, and Diana could clearly see her defined muscles, even under the fur, the kind of muscles fast predators gained from so many hunts.

Her retractable claws were smaller now, but still long and sharp, both on her hands and feet. Diana could see the tip of Sekhmet's white fangs even when she had her mouth closed and the cloak of flames was still burning over her shoulders.

Power emanated from her, like waves of pure energy and Diana had to control herself not to tremble; Azzuri, even under his Black Panther armor, was not succeeding. It was simply amazing – and terrible – and Diana could not help but wonder if all gods felt like that. Sekhmet was pure power molded in physical form, like a sun forged into a much smaller shape, but never losing its potency.

Sekhmet remained in silence, eyes closed, as if accustoming her body to move again, after thousands of years in slumber. Every time she moved, Diana could see her muscles stretching, slowly, and she cracked her joints, one by one. Then, eyes still closed, Sekhmet took a long breath, getting in all the smells in the room. Her eyes opened, abruptly, completely taken by the red glow; they fixed themselves on Diana.

And without any warning, any word spoken whatsoever, Sekhmet attacked.

Diana could not avoid it. She could not move out of the way, raise her shield or even her bracelets. She could barely see Sekhmet move at all; at one moment she was there, on the other side of the temple, and at the other the Cheetah Goddess' hand was closing around her face, her fingers long enough to almost envelop her entire head.

Before Diana could even understand what was happening, Sekhmet raised her in the air as if she weighted nothing and smashed her head against the ground, one, two, three times, each blow turning the stone ground into dust.

Diana groaned in pain, seeing stars, hurting more than any other hit she had ever taken; she fought to remain conscious, feeling the darkness' tendrils trying to take her mind. Suddenly, Diana could see again, and it took her a second to understand that Sekhmet had released her face.

Only to close her hand around her neck, her grip almost crushing her spine and windpipe.

Out of sheer desperation, Diana fought to escape, grabbing Sekhmet's hand, kicking, struggling. Her boots broke the ground and she actually hit Sekhmet's ribs, but it was like kicking a mountain of vibranium; if anything, Cheetah's grasp became even stronger. Eyes wide, trying everything to remain conscious, Diana reached for the Godkiller sword on her back, her hand shaking, as she tried to lift her body a little bit so she could unsheathe it.

Her vison began to blur and Diana was losing herself inside of Sekhmet's red eyes; there was absolutely nothing besides pure Wrath in them.

"Stop!" Azzuri yelled, running towards them, his voice sounding so far away to Diana. "We do not want to fight you, Great One!"

Sekhmet did not release Diana, but she did look up; only to lift her other arm and grab Azzuri by his neck, raising him from the ground without even bothering to stand up. If not for his vibranium armor, Azzuri would have died instantly, Diana had no doubt.

Then, without any apparent reason, Sekhmet stopped. There was a flicker of recognition in her wrathful eyes.

"Ba-shen-ga?" Sekhmet whispered, slowly, as if she had forgotten how to speak.

The fingers around Diana's neck lost a bit of their strength and she supposed the same had happened with the fingers around Azzuri's neck, but the sheer power behind the Goddess' grasp was so much that it barely made any difference.

Diana managed to breathe a bit of very much needed air, but Azzuri – vibranium suit or not – was seconds away from death. Whatever Sekhmet saw in the King of Wakanda was not enough to dispel her confusion and, unfortunately, Azzuri did not have the option of waiting, not while he was about to suffocate.

Focusing all her strength, Diana yelled in rage and twisted Sekhmet's hand. The sudden bout of strength was enough to make the Cheetah Goddess release her and as soon as she was able, Diana jumped up and grabbed the shield from her back.

And bashed Sekhmet with all her power, right in the face.

The shield bash was so strong that the Cheetah was sent flying to the other side of the room, breaking everything in her path, from statues to sarcophaguses, the vibranium offerings being splattered across the room when the goddess collided against a pile of coins and precious stones.

Until she finally hit the wall, making the entire temple tremble.

With a quick look to see if Azzuri was indeed alright, Diana unsheathed her sword, preparing herself to fight. The last thing she wanted was to face Sekhmet, to battle a goddess that not only was powerful enough to become legendary, but was also not an enemy.

She could not, however, allow Sekhmet to unleash her wrath upon this world, not even if that meant helping Wakanda. Bast had defeated her sister because Sekhmet tried to lead Wakanda in a war that would conquer the world. Diana had no idea if she still had any intention of doing that, but considering that the last thing Sekhmet remembered was her sister beating her, then her mindset was still the same. She did not have the time to change her mind and at the moment, as confused as she was, it was unlikely that she would.

Diana did not want to kill her, to even fight her, but she would do what she needed to do. She only hoped Sekhmet would regain her senses before things went too far.

A powerful roar echoed in the temple as Sekhmet got up, her cloak of flames burning everything around her.

"Hera, give me strength!" Diana whispered, seeing Azzuri draw his two swords as well.

* * *

 **Unnamed Lands – Approximately 8000 B.C**

The sun glowed bright in the sky and the wind was calm, allowing the few clouds to travel peacefully in an endless blue.

Things were different on the ground.

From the top of the hill, Sekhmet stared down at the forces in front of her, taking position amongst the trees; she sneered, realizing that they were truly decided to face her. The Heliopolitan had no idea what kind of creatures she was looking at, but if she were to describe them, she would say it was a cross between a man and a spider. Greyish skin, no hair, eight reddish eyes, eight limbs and chelicerae; and yet, they stood straight like men, wore armor like men, wielded weapons like men.

It mattered little. In the end, they would die screaming under her claws if they chose to fight her.

Without looking, Sekhmet mapped the location of her own soldiers, standing behind her. Elite warriors trained by her, loyal and fierce, Heliopolitans that had already proven their value in countless wars throughout millennia of service. Men and women clad in vibranium armor, wielding vibranium shields and vibranium spears, distinctively marked as _her_ warriors by the realistic Cheetah-shaped vibranium helmets they wore, that covered their entire heads as if they shared her feline traces.

Every Ennead – the ruling council of the Heliopolitans – had warriors marked like that, bearing the forms of their masters. Sekhmet was no different.

"Form a perimeter," Sekhmet ordered her soldiers, not needing to look to know that they would obey. "I do not want any of those things to escape."

She waited a few seconds, hearing the warriors vanishing to their new positions. Sekhmet, like her soldiers, was also wearing a vibranium armor. Her breast plate covered her shoulders and chest – tiny pieces of the sacred metal overlapping each other, until they formed the entire armor – while her arms remained free, exposing her orange skin covered with dark patches and her clawed hands. Her thighs were covered by a vibranium skirt, composed of tiny pieces overlapped together like her breastplate, and her shins were covered by vibranium greaves; her feet, with fearsome black claws, were not covered. A red sash was around her waist, falling long in front and back of her hips, and her tail was wrapped around it at the moment; two sickle-like vibranium swords were sheathed in the sash.

No helmet covered her head, allowing her long red hair to fall free on her back, and her long, pointy ears were pierced by vibranium earrings.

Sekhmet was in a form between her cheetah shape and her Heliopolitan shape, perfect for combat. In that form, she had her claws, her tail, her teeth and her thick fur, allied to the strength and speed of the cheetah; her legs were long and powerful, almost like they were in her fully transformed state, down to the fearsome claws on her feet. Her physical attributes might be lesser than her true cheetah form, but as a hybrid she had the best of both worlds: enhanced strength and speed, claws and a body capable of wielding armor and weapons.

Calling it a "form" or a "shape" was, of course, to grossly demean the enormity of what the Ennead achieved. Any god with a bit of power could change shapes – even some mortals could. What the Ennead could do, however, went beyond that. Sekhmet did not take the form of a cheetah, she _became_ one.

It was her Aspect.

It took her thousands of years to learn it and centuries more to decide what Aspect she would take for herself, but when she decided to embrace the Cheetah Aspect, Sekhmet embraced not only its appearance, but everything that went alongside it. The animal was strong, _fast_ , aggressive, loyal… So she became all that as well. Proportional to her own godly strength, obviously, since her normal power was far above the animal's; in that Aspect, Sekhmet was to normal Heliopolitans what a Cheetah was to a human.

Her enemies would soon learn that.

When her warriors gave the signal that they were in position, Sekhmet lunged at her enemies, leaping from the hill with her sickle-blade swords in hand. She moved so fast that the spider-hybrid monsters had no chance to defend themselves and soon the vibranium swords were cleaving limbs left and right.

Without the need for any order, her soldiers joined the battle, their vibranium spears shooting sonic-blasts against the spider creatures, the raised shields creating a wall around the battlefield that their enemies could not breach. Sekhmet threw her swords away – each one striking and killing an opponent – and started to use her claws, maybe even more lethal than the vibranium blades. Each hit was a kill, her claws blazing with fire, igniting her enemies with the smallest cut.

And almost before it had even started, the battle was already over. All that remained were severed limbs, burned creatures and fallen corpses.

Only one creature remained alive.

Snarling, Sekhmet batted away the creature's weapons, disarming it, and grabbed it by the neck. The spider monster would no doubt dwarf a human, but Sekhmet stood tall above it, her Heliopolitan height far superior than the tall creature; she lifted it with ease, bringing it closer to her fearsome fangs.

"You killed my unarmed messenger," Sekhmet hissed in Allspeak, a language that could be understood by any being. "I sent him to your village with peace offerings and kind words and you sent me back his head. And then you attacked my camp. Why?"

The spider thing struggled uselessly against her grip, trying to flee, but it never had any chance. Sekhmet brought him even closer.

"I will give you one chance to make this right," she said. "One! Lead us back to your village, find the one responsible for ordering the death of my messenger and make him explain himself. If I find the explanation satisfactory, I might not destroy you all."

Saying this, she released the creature, none to kindly. The monster fell on the ground heavily, but it did not run; it had nowhere to run, not while her soldiers circled them with shields and spears.

The creature, however, fell by the side of one of her swords, currently buried in the chest of one of the dead; Sekhmet could see the idea forming behind the creature's many eyes.

She did nothing. Sekhmet promised the creature a chance, so she would give it one. Ignoring it, she turned around, exposing her back to it, daring the creature to make its choice: do as she told it or pick up the sword and try to attack her.

Unsurprisingly, the creature chose the latter.

Sekhmet remained still, even when the creature launched itself to grab the vibranium sword; she held a sigh. Few gods were as fast as she was and the creature's frenetic movements seemed sluggish to her. There would be no surprise-attack, no moment of distraction to be exploited; the creature was simply too slow for that to happen.

So she waited. She heard the creature grasping the sword, she heard her soldiers tensing and beginning to react, she heard the creature getting up and preparing itself to toss the sword against her. She was more than prepared for it.

What she was not prepared for was the multi-ton Black Panther falling from the sky, right on top of the spider creature.

Bast's claws did not simply shred the creature, it practically blew it up, tossing pieces of it everywhere, covered in some greenish slime; and for all her speed, Sekhmet was not fast enough to dodge or to close her mouth in time.

Not for the first time, she wanted to kill her sister, especially when the huge panther began to laugh hysterically, the rumbling sound thundering in the forest.

"Must you always do this?!" Sekhmet exclaimed, spiting the disgusting thing while Bast laughed so hard the ground trembled. "I should feed you its carcass, you overgrown cat!"

The huge panther glowed blue for a second and then she was back at her hybrid Aspect, a woman with pitch black fur, claws, blue eyes, sharp teeth, long black hair and pointy ears, not unlike Sekhmet if not for the color, down to the style of her armor; difference was, she was laughing madly while Sekhmet was anything but. And one of them was completely covered in goo.

Allowing her rage to boil, Sekhmet summoned her flames, igniting her fur for a moment; any traces of the green slime and the pieces of the creature were vaporized.

"What are you talking about, dear sister?" Bast asked once she was able to control herself. "I just saved your life!"

Sekhmet did not answer, she just concentrated herself to extinguish the flames, something Bast's taunts were not making it any easier.

"What is this thing, anyway?" Bast asked, grabbing a severed head. She eyed the spider creature.

She closed her eyes for a second, getting her rage under control. There was no use arguing with Bast if she did not want things to result in a huge fight and at the moment she did not have the time for it.

"It is a… What is it called?" Sekhmet asked, looking at the captain of her forces.

"They called themselves Anansi, milady," the man answered immediately, his voice sounding metallic because of the cheetah helmet. "One of the Tribes of the Originators. They inhabit this land."

Sekhmet waved at the captain while looking at Bast, as if making his words hers.

"Hmm… And why exactly are you killing them?" Bast questioned, tossing the head away.

"I tried to establish contact with them," Sekhmet started, taking her swords back from the bloody battlefield, "and they killed my messenger and attacked my camp."

Bast's good humor changed when she heard that.

"Why?" she asked. Sekhmet simply shrugged in response. "Well, something to look into, then. But first… What have you found here that 'demands my full attention'?"

Again, Sekhmet turned to her captain.

"Tell her." The man began talking, but the metallic voice was grating on her nerves. "Helmets off," she ordered.

As if they were one, her soldiers obeyed. The vibranium helmets in the form of a cheetah head retracted piece by piece, the small plates moving by themselves until the entire helmet withdrew to the breastplate, revealing their faces. Heliopolitans were remarkably similar to humans – height and enhanced physical attributes notwithstanding –, but the skin colors were a dead giveaway.

Unlike humans, who had few skin colors with several different tones, Heliopolitans came in a wide variety of different colors. Bronze, silver, golden, blue, green, red, literal white and black… Her captain had bronze skin – like her original color –, but her soldiers looked like a color pallet without their helmets, each of them unique.

"Lady Sekhmet ordered us to map these lands, milady Bast," the captain began, "and we got some interesting readings when our ship flew over a mountain."

"What kind of readings?" Bast asked, curious.

The captain could barely conceal the surprise expression on his face.

"Vibranium, milady."

Bast's shocked face probably mirrored Sekhmet's when she was told the news. Vibranium belonged to Heliopolis. And as far as they knew, _only_ to Heliopolis. It was a metal sacred to them, precious because of its properties and fiercely guarded so no one else would ever use it. It was not rare in Heliopolis, they had entire moons made of it, but out in the universe?

They had never found it anywhere else.

To know that it existed there, on the very planet her kind became so captivated with? On the very planet the Heliopolitans had landed millenniums ago and built their very own piece of Heliopolis? To say it was surprising was an understatement.

"How is this possible?" Bast whispered. She looked at her sister. "Is it native of this world?"

Sekhmet shook her head. "By the readings, it is probably a meteor."

"Probably a piece of one of our moons," Bast mumbled, deep in thought. "But how did it come loose? One of the ancient battles against Apep?"

She rolled her eyes. Bast was the first to laugh when Thoth got lost thinking about one of his theories, but here she was.

"Let us see for ourselves, sister," Sekhmet interrupted. "It is useless to speculate."

"Right you are!" Bast agreed immediately, grinning with her sharp teeth.

"Captain, prepare my ship, we will–"

"Disregard that order, captain," Bast interrupted, passing her arm over Sekhmet's shoulders; she grinned exposing her sharp fangs. "The whole point of this little travel was so we could unwind a bit, forget the family drama, get away from our responsibilities!" She stopped, frowning for a moment. "True, I left for but a moment and you already sparked a war with the locals, but I am sure we can solve that later... Let us go ourselves, together. Like the old days!"

Sekhmet tried not to, she really did, but she caught herself smiling back. She wanted to kill Bast some days, that was true, but her sister's good mood was infectious, she wouldn't deny it.

Her captain was clearly confused, not knowing what to do. He would never outright disobey an Ennead, not if he valued his life, but he was _hers_ and he looked at Sekhmet to know what to do, as well as he should.

Reluctantly, Sekhmet nodded.

"Go back to the camp, captain," she ordered. "Keep an eye on these filthy creatures and learn what you can. Do not engage them if possible."

He crossed both arms in front of his chest and bowed his head, followed by every one of her soldiers, and then they left. Bast turned to her, grinning.

"Race?" Bast asked.

That was a stupid question, Sekhmet thought, changing to her cheetah Aspect at the same time Bast changed to her panther's. They propelled forward, into the woods, running so fast that the trees passed in a blur around them.

She did not want to admit, but Bast was right. This whole trip was supposed to be a break from their responsibilities – and they were many –, a way to reconnect with her favorite sister, some well deserved rest. They were the Eyes of Ra, the most fearsome warriors of Heliopolis, and they had fought countless battles in their father's name.

They needed some time for themselves.

Heliopolis would survive, of course, even with them so far. Ra was, needless to say, deep in his Sleep, regaining his strength for the day Apep would undoubtably return once again, but her brother Shu and her sister Tefnut would have things under control. Geb and Nut, like their grandfather Ra, were also slumbering, regaining their power and youth, but Osiris and Isis were quite awake and ruling their colony on Earth.

Bast and Sekhmet were, for lack of kinder words, simply not needed right now. It was never a better time to rest.

They ran together for hours, jumping through the huge trees, climbing mountains, crossing rivers… Sekhmet had no doubt she could have left her sister behind any time she wanted, but running alongside her was oddly comforting. She missed her sister dearly, missed spending time with her outside work, missed having fun.

And right now she was having fun.

They arrived at the place a few hours later; they both stopped at the same time, eyes widening. The place was simply breathtaking, beautiful beyond all words, full of trees and rivers and green plains. And at the middle of all that, standing tall at the center of the place, was a huge mountain.

A mountain that, if their noses were not deceiving them, was made of pure vibranium.

Still in silence, both sisters changed to their hybrid form, walking to the edge of the hill, eyes stuck to the piece of their homeland. They smiled at each other.

"Together?" Sekhmet asked.

"Together," Bast agreed.

They bother lifted their clawed hands and there was a pair of glows, one red and one blue; a pair of ankhs appeared out of nothing in their hands. Ankhs forged with vibranium, powerful foci for their divine power.

And then they stuck them in the ground. Sekhmet's ankh glowed red like her flames, while Bast's glowed blue like her eyes. The energy built up and broke the ground, opening a trail that moved forward, snaking through the trees, making the whole forest shine, until they reached the mountain.

Both streams of energy went up the mountain, carving it, destroying the rock shell that had built up around the vibranium core. Suddenly, the whole thing fell apart with a thunderous sound, shaking the entire land.

Inside it, glowing impossibly bright under the sun, was a _massive_ piece of pure vibranium; probably the top of a much larger piece hidden underneath the earth.

The two sisters smiled again at each other. Maybe they could build something here, in this new land.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Necropolis, Temple of Sekhmet – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Johann Schmidt could not believe in what he was seeing. This surpassed any dream, any fantasy, his mind could have conjured on its own.

A battle between two goddesses. A clash of divine powers that made the very Earth tremble.

Few things impressed a man such as him, not after he had seen pretty much all their world had to offer. The Super-Soldier Serum, Erskine's prized research, had. The existence of the Tesseract and all it could do, had. The appearance of a new goddess, one that still did not know of her own divinity, had.

And now this, a test of might between two holy beings.

Each blow made his bones shake, each sword slash made his blood feel cold, each clash between claws and shield made his eyes widen. The sheer speed of their movements left him speechless, sometimes too much for him to follow, even with his superior vision. Sekhmet, the Cheetah Goddess, was certainly faster, dashing across the temple in such haste that she might as well be teleporting, but Lady Diana was getting faster by the minute, almost as if she did not realize it.

Like the voice in his dreams had whispered, Lady Diana did not know the reach of her godhood yet. And as the superior human chosen for this holy crusade, he was the one in charge of helping her find out.

Lady Diana blocked with her shield when Sekhmet lunged at her, her feet cracking the stone floor when the Cheetah collided against it, and counterattacked with a swift strike of her sword; except Sekhmet was not there to be hit anymore. Instead, the sword cut off one of the statues, the stone seemingly like butter under the blade.

Sekhmet appeared almost out of nowhere behind Lady Diana and slashed her back, her incredible claws drawing blood when it hit unarmored skin; Diana groaned in pain, but apart from that she barely reacted, already turning to face her again.

King Azzuri, with his two vibranium swords, suddenly jumped on top of Sekhmet, only to be grabbed around the throat midair by the goddess' tail, that wrapped itself around his throat and actually lifted the man with ease. The King of Wakanda still managed to strike Sekhmet with his vibranium sword, the sharp edge hitting her shoulder.

But to their surprise, Schmidt's included, nothing happened. Vibranium was a miraculous metal, he knew this, but without the proper strength behind the blow, it still was not capable of cutting the orange fur of the Cheetah Goddess; the blade simply remained there, harmless, touching Sekhmet's shoulder.

It did cut her, however, when Diana jumped and kicked Azzuri's sword, forcing the vibranium blade against Sekhmet's shoulder with all her power.

The vibranium sunk deeply into Sekhmet's skin and the goddess let out a roar that shook the walls of the temple, at the same time she launched Azzuri across the room with her tail; his sword was left buried in her shoulder. With a growl, Sekhmet pulled it out, tossing it away. Blood flowed from the wound.

Golden blood, glowing like the molten metal under the blue light of the Tesseract, still positioned in the middle of the room.

Furious, Sekhmet turned to Lady Diana and spat out a torrent of flames, forcing the young goddess to hide behind her shield; Schmidt could feel the heat from a distance. Better yet, he could see the trail of molten rocks it left.

Schmidt wondered what the outcome of this battle would be. Would Lady Diana unleash her untapped power and slay Sekhmet, absorbing her powers and domains in reward? Would the Cheetah's age and experience – and sheer power – prove themselves to be unbeatable? Would they stop fighting, eventually, and join forces?

He had no way of knowing, but it did not matter. This was a battle between gods, mortals should not get involved.

It was a lesson Schmidt would have to teach the King of Wakanda himself, he realized, as the Black Panther got up, prepared to attack Sekhmet again. He drew his gun, turned on the circular energy shield on his left arm – an idea he stole from Captain America's vibranium one – and prepared himself.

Some people just had no respect for gods anymore.

* * *

 **Ancient Egypt – Approximately 3000 B.C, before the War of the Gods**

Sekhmet stepped out of the portal, Bast by her side, and she could not stop herself from admiring the beautiful city the Heliopolitans had created: a piece of home on Earth, the Ennead Citadel.

It was an oasis of life in the middle of a harsh desert, green and shining, with trees, rivers, flowers and animals living in harmony amongst the spectacular buildings. Statues of every single Ennead decorated the streets, palaces glowed in silver and gold, obelisks carved in precious stones reached for the blue sky to sustain the barrier around the city, sphinxes – living ones, but asleep in their stone forms – stood guard on the edges of the city and gigantic pyramids could be seen in the horizon.

It made Sekhmet long for home, at least for a moment.

As beautiful as it was, though, Heliopolis was still more impressive. It could be nostalgia speaking, but while Sekhmet loved this Citadel, this Earthly-Heliopolis, their home was just _more_. Bigger monuments, more extensive palaces, statues that seemed alive, pyramids built entirely with vibranium… All that, surrounded by vibranium moons and a hundred multicolored suns.

Maybe she did miss home, Sekhmet admitted. It had been a long time.

"I love this place," Bast mentioned, as they walked the streets, "but I think we did a much better job with Wakanda."

That brought a smile to Sekhmet's lips; that was true. Wakanda was her home too.

Wakanda had grown _immensely_ in all those years, in every aspect. The Tribes had united under one banner, led by the first King, Bashenga. Sekhmet had taught them how to use vibranium, how to defend themselves, how to build cities so amazing that few races outside Earth could brag about seeing better. Wakanda was a marvel, the very dream she and her sister gave form, and not even the war against the Originators had scarred it.

She never imagined humans could achieve so much and Sekhmet was so very _proud_. Wakanda was her paradise and she loved it more than anything.

They walked through the city, ignoring the awed looks from the lesser Heliopolitans and from the few mortals that were allowed to live there. Flying vehicles and people riding camels and horses passed around them. There was music in the air and the whole place smelled like food, in preparation for the Ennead Conclave. Neither of them knew exactly what to expect of this meeting, but Sekhmet had a few ideas and none of them were pleasant.

It was probably the ending of Osiris Ruling Cycle, or at least that was the most plausible theory she could think of. Unlike what mortals might think, "gods" were not eternal. They aged, they died, or at least most of them did – the Olympians, as far as she knew, were the exception, being descendants of the Titan of Time, one who wielded the Time Stone for so long. Give or take 5000 thousand years, an Heliopolitan would fade and pass away like any mortal would.

Asgardians, Daevas, the Xian, the Amatsu-Kami, the Ahau, the Annunaki… All of them, like the Heliopolitans, had to find ways to extend their lives, to keep their power, or come to terms with dying like any mortal; entire pantheons had already faded away, leaving behind but memories and myths.

They were born, they grew up, they died. Unless they did something about it.

Golden Apples, Sacred Fountains, Magical Rituals… Heliopolitans hibernated. They surrendered to Sleep from time to time and as the centuries passed, they regained their lost youth. That was, in fact, the very purpose of the pyramids, despite what mortals seemed to think. They were not tombs for fallen royalty, they were fortresses where the Ennead could Sleep safely.

Fortresses that, in Heliopolis, were built using pure vibranium, capable of withstanding virtually anything, and perfectly positioned towards the Cosmos so that they could access the Astral Dimension with ease while they Slept and interact with the dreamworld while regaining their power.

For practical reasons, not every Ennead Slept at the same time. While some dozed off for a few centuries or millennia, carried by dreams and limited to the Astral Dimension, others remained alert, defending their people from threats and leading the Heliopolitans.

At the moment, Osiris and Isis were ruling the Ennead Citadel, on Earth, while their parents, Geb and Nut, Slept. Shu and Tefnut, in turn, were responsible for Heliopolis, also quite awake. Soon, however, the Cycle would end and those ruling now would slumber, as the ones currently Sleeping would wake up to assume the throne.

Sekhmet dreaded that. Bast and her were awake for a few thousand years and while she did not feel the need to Sleep yet, she might be ordered to. And quite frankly, there was not a worse moment for her to Sleep than now, with all the unrest going on in this world.

Deciding to stop worrying until she actually had reason to, Sekhmet shook her head and tried to dispel those thoughts.

Soon, they were in front of the royal palace, passing the dozens of statues as they walked in. The security in the place was absurdly high at the moment, with every Ennead taking their own soldiers with them to the Conclave.

Sekhmet could see her own soldiers waiting for her, bearing the Cheetah helmets; by their side were Bast's soldiers, with their vibranium Panther helmets. Hathor's bovine helmets were not far, nor were Thoth's ibises and Isis' kites. Horus' falcons were watching from afar and Maat's ostriches were at the door. Nephthys' hawks were standing close to her husband's soldiers, Set, bearing the helmet of some hound-like creature from some far away Realm that she did not know.

At last, there were Osiris' soldiers, wearing helmets that resembled a mummified man; served him right for having a non-corporeal Aspect, some unnamed psychopomp – a spiritual creature that guided the souls of the departed – that had no real form in their dimension. Useful for a God of Death, she supposed, but inconvenient when one wanted to forge a helmet with their likeness.

Sekhmet and Bast barely acknowledged the greetings from the soldiers, walking faster to the meeting room, since it appeared that everyone was already there. The palace was beyond beautiful, designed by Thoth himself, but the sisters barely paid any attention, passing quickly through the hallways until they found themselves in front of a huge golden door.

Without hesitation, they opened it and entered, seeing the familiar circle of golden thrones in the middle of the room, present in every Conclave.

"Ah, here they are!" Thoth exclaimed, getting up from his golden throne. "I was beginning to think you were not coming."

"Princess here could not decide what clothes she would wear," Bast joked, pointing at her, as she advanced to embrace her older brother.

Thoth was the oldest son of Ra, the oldest of the Ennead, wisest and probably – though she loathed to admit it – the most powerful of them. He was wearing his usual white robes and was in his hybrid Aspect, displaying the head of a blue bird, an ibis, hands with long black claws and a body covered in blue feathers. He was the God of Knowledge and the Heavenly Bodies, the Scribe of the Gods and a master of every single branch of science in existence.

He was also incapable of talking around pretty women, awkward in social gatherings and for all his intelligence, unable to realize Maat liked him. An utter idiot, in Sekhmet's opinion, but she loved him anyway.

Maat loved him too, but in a very different way, if the blushes that appeared on her cheeks every time she looked at Thoth meant anything. Her sister Maat was the Goddess of Law, Order and Harmony, responsible for writing every single rule and regulation in Heliopolis. Sekhmet had never met anyone so utterly devoted in controlling things and sometimes she wanted nothing more than to burn to cinders the red feathers of her sister's Ostrich Aspect, covering her arms like wings.

She would be a good match for her boring older brother, Thoth, no doubt about that.

Sitting by Thoth's right side, obviously presiding this whole meeting, was Osiris.

Osiris, since his Aspect was non-corporeal, looked like an ordinary Heliopolitan, even if a noble one. Dressed in luxurious clothes, bearing a golden _Atef_ crown, Osiris was the picture of royalty, a calm and kind ruler. Though far younger than Sekhmet and Bast, Osiris was immensely powerful, a God of Death that commanded great respect in both gods and mortals.

His most distinctive feature was his green skin, rare amongst the Heliopolitans and quite beautiful in her sister's opinion; Sekhmet thought it made him look like a putrefied corpse, quite fitting for a God of Death. He was not pleased when she told him that.

Isis, Osiris' wife, was sitting on his other side, regal and lovely as always. Like Maat, Isis chose to manifest only a part of her Aspect, her multicolored wings, instead of transforming her entire body; wings that kept fluttering from time to time, especially when she talked. There was not a single person there who did not like the kind Goddess of Wisdom and Magic and Sekhmet was not different.

She tried to find flaws in Isis, she truly did, but the woman was just too _nice_.

Sitting by Isis' side was Sekhmet's other sister, Hathor. Fitting for a Goddess of Love and Fertility, Hathor was utterly gorgeous, even when she chose to manifest her Cow Aspect, with horns and hooves; it baffled Sekhmet, but she heard a lot of men saying that the horns made Hathor even more desirable. Not something she wanted to hear, _ever_ , but unfortunately she had good hearing.

People looked at Hathor to solve matters of the heart, but Sekhmet would bet a mountain of vibranium that most of them only looked at Hathor's heart because it was behind the biggest set of breasts she had ever seen, in any Realm, on immortals or mortals.

She found them extremely unpractical, but every man she ever met – and quite a lot of women too – seemed to approve. Hathor's husband, Horus, was not an exception.

Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis, a kid compared to her – only a few thousand years old, not nearly as ancient as Sekhmet –, but a kid she liked. And a kid with potential. Horus had a Falcon Aspect, with blue and silver feathers, and the keen eyes of a hunter; she would know, she taught him. The boy was powerful, smart, maybe a little rash, but he had heart. He was a God of Sky, Master of the Winds and a brave warrior.

Sekhmet had high hopes for him. One day, he would rule Heliopolis, she had no doubt.

Nephthys was the next Ennead in the throne circle, sitting with utmost dignity, as with everything she did. She was the Goddess of Guardianship, a protector to the core, beautiful as the night sky in her black Hawk Aspect. Sekhmet liked her, but not in larger doses; the woman simply had no sense of humor.

Which served her well, because her husband Set was probably the least humorous god in the room.

Set, Osiris' brother and Horus' uncle, was the God of Storms, Violence and the Desert, a truly fearsome being. Sekhmet had no idea to what animal his Aspect belonged, only that it was some kind of bloodthirsty hound, _huge_ , with immense teeth, pointed ears and sharp claws; not an animal she had ever seen on Earth or Heliopolis, but one she would like to fight one day. He was a big god, dwarfing anyone in the room with his height and sheer muscles, covered in black fur and with glowing red eyes.

He was much younger than her or Bast, but Sekhmet could attest that he was a formidable warrior in the battlefield.

After greeting everyone, Bast sat down on her own throne, scratching the golden metal with her long claws for a moment. Sekhmet might be biased because Bast was her favorite family member, but alongside herself and Osiris her sister was probably the most powerful Ennead in the room, save for Thoth. Bast was a Warrior Goddess, one of the Eyes of Ra, the Guardian of the Solar Fire of Creation and a Soul Guide, much like Sekhmet. A defender of her people. After Thoth, Bast was the oldest child of Ra, a goddess that had fought and won wars for tens of thousands of years.

And lastly, there was herself, Sekhmet, the Warrior Goddess of Wrath, Hunt and the Solar Fire of Destruction, the second Eye of Ra. The Ennead with the most kills, the one that fought most of the wars, the Flaming Sword of Heliopolis. There was a reason mortals had several festivals dedicated to pacify her; when Ra sent her to war, enough blood flowed to fill entire oceans. Worlds burned to cinders.

The Ennead were Gods among Gods, Kings of a divine race, descendants of the Celestial Sun, Ra. Billions of years ago, Ra burned until he became a star and with his light and his guidance, life was seeded on the planet that would eventually be known as Heliopolis. Slowly, but surely, in a process that took ages and ages, life grew and evolved.

Until the first Heliopolitans appeared.

Ra created a body for himself and walked amongst his creation, taught them, cared for them. But he had responsibilities beyond that, so he decided to have an heir, someone to protect the Heliopolitans when he could not. Thus, Thoth was born, the very first Ennead.

Eventually, thousands of years later, others followed. Bast, Sekhmet, Hathor, Maat, Shu, Tefnut, Khonsu… New generations appeared later, as the Ennead paired up, until an entire dynasty rose to power on Heliopolis to fulfil Ra's wish.

And now, most of them were in that very room, ready to discuss the future of their race.

Sekhmet sat on her own throne. She did not get nervous often, but for some reason she was worried that day.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Necropolis, Temple of Sekhmet – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Ares watched as his youngest sister faced the old Cheetah, sword and shield against claws and flames. He was impressed.

There were a lot of unkind words Ares could use to describe his father, Zeus, but there was no doubt that the old King of Olympus knew how to make heirs. Himself included. Diana was, simply put, incredible. There was just _so much_ power inside her, so much will. When she learned how to actually harness all that, well…

Diana was created to kill Ares, after all. And Ares had slayed almost all Olympians, Zeus included. It made him excited to see just how far she could go, if she was strong enough to allow herself.

The God of War despised humans on principle, always so needy and weak, simply unreliable. But his latest servant was surpassing his expectations, Ares had to recognize that. He helped, of course – there was no way for a mortal to completely control an Infinity Stone, no matter the technology they had. Using the energy of the Tesseract to make weapons, barriers and small, unstable portals was one thing. Teleporting an entire army, breaching the wards around the Necropolis, redirecting the Mjölnir blast through Wakanda's barrier and finally locating and forcibly dragging Sekhmet from the opposite side of the universe… That was something quite different. So Ares helped, here and there, but most of what happened that day was orchestrated by the Red Skull himself.

A test for Diana. A feast for Ares. A torture for Bast. A punishment for Sekhmet.

Truth was, it mattered little for Ares what would happen that day. If Diana won, she would become stronger and eventually Ares would turn her to his own side, he had no doubt of that. She was a weapon crafted by Zeus to defeat him and he was a master of all weapons. Diana would follow him after seeing what her precious humans were capable of and together they would take War to all the Realms in the universe.

If Sekhmet won, Diana would die and rid the world of a weak weapon. The Cheetah Goddess would mount an offensive against Ares, leading Wakanda to war against the world; a war that would feed him so much power that he would, eventually, destroy Sekhmet and the rest of this world. And then take War to all the Realms in the universe.

War was war, it made no difference who was fighting it, as long as it lasted. And this war would last. Ares had no intention of allowing his servant to win or Diana to win. They would fight for as long as they possibly could and each death, each drop of blood, would be a gift for Ares.

And the death of a Goddess in a battle of a World War… That would indeed be a feast worthy of a God.

So, cloaked in an invisibility spell so strong that not even Sekhmet's senses could perceive him – not in the current state of mind she was, at least –, Ares continued to watch as they battled, amused by the brutality of the fight.

If Diana survived, she would make a good general for his armies. Knowingly or not, the daughter of Hippolyta relished in violence almost as much as he did.

Ares smiled, his eyes glowing red.

* * *

 **Ancient Egypt – Approximately 3000 B.C, before the War of the Gods**

"Welcome, my friends, my family," Osiris began, getting up from his seat and smiling at them. "I know many of you wished to be elsewhere, doing anything else other than attending a meeting, but we have some important matters to discuss."

Understatement of the millennium, Sekhmet thought, rolling her eyes; discreetly, Bast smacked her.

"As all of you well know, Apep approaches Heliopolis once again," Osiris continued, suddenly somber. "It has been nearly five thousand years since the Great Ra defeated it and banished it to the edges of the universe, but as any cycle, its return is inevitable. Since the beginning, the universe rotates every five millennia and every time it happens, Ra must face the Chaos Serpent, to stop it from devouring everything."

Without noticing, Sekhmet let out a growl. Apep was the greatest threat to Heliopolis, present in their stories for as long as Ra shined upon them, tied in an eternal war against all her race.

The last time Sekhmet faced Apep by her father's side had been a couple of centuries before she and Bast founded Wakanda. She could say, without any doubt, that the creature was – tied with her father – the most powerful being she had ever laid eyes on, capable of devouring entire planets and stars in a matter of minutes. Always hungry, the very personification of chaos, so big that even Ra's sun was dwarfed near it.

Worst of all, apparently immortal. Apep could be fought, hurt, banished… But truly defeated? If even Ra with the entire might of the Ennead by his side could not do it, then she sincerely doubted it was possible. Nobody knew Apep's origins, what it truly wanted, if it even could understand them. Was it a Celestial, like Ra? A completely different kind of being? Some creature that had crossed from another dimension? They did not know.

All they knew is that every 5000 years it returned, tracing the same path it always did, devouring anything in its way until it reached Ra and Heliopolis, ever since the oldest of them could remember.

Many hated Apep with all their power, but Sekhmet had her doubts if the Serpent could even understand what it was doing. To her, it would be like cursing the trajectory of the heavenly bodies. Sekhmet was Wrath personified, but even she understood the futility in hating something like that.

Given the chance, however, she would kill it without hesitation. If she ever had the power to do so.

"Our sensors can attest that Apep is approaching," Osiris stated, grabbing her attention again. "By Thoth's calculations, it will reach Heliopolis in approximately ten Earthly years."

"Nine years, 236 days, 13 hours, 39 minutes and 43 seconds," Thoth piped up, looking from the top of his scroll. "Approximately."

"More or less ten years, then," Bast teased, knowing how much Thoth despised being inaccurate.

"Nine years, 236 days, 13 hou–"

"Anyway," Osiris interrupted, quickly, "we need to coordinate our efforts. Ra must be awoken and our fleets need to be prepared. We need to be there."

"Can't Shu and Tefnut deal with it?" Set grumbled, clearly annoyed. "Isn't that the very reason they are ruling Heliopolis?"

She could hear a touch of resentment in Set's voice, probably coming from the fact that he was never appointed to rule anything. Sekhmet made a mental note of that, so she could provoke him later about it.

Osiris, as dignified as ever, did not rise to his brother's bait. He seemed truly worried about something.

He took a deep breath.

"They are having trouble waking Ra," Osiris finally said.

Sekhmet felt her bones chill when he said that and she was not the only one. Not one sound could be heard in the room.

The Ennead surrendered to Sleep to remain young and powerful, to brave the passing of the ages, so they could be there to lead their people, to face every threat. It was a fact of life to them.

But every time they entered their pyramids and closed their eyes, there was a little voice on the back of their heads, whispering:

" _What if I don't wake up?_ "

Each time they Slept, they remained in the Astral Dimension for longer. Each time the effort to open their eyes was greater. What if one day their eyes would refuse to open? Ra was not like them, he was a Celestial, an incredibly powerful one, but every time he faced Apep he also surrendered to Sleep.

Ra returned to the core of his Sun and rested, so he could wake up again 5000 years later to fight another day. And every time he did that, the Ennead had more trouble to awake him. What if he never woke up? What if they could not bring Ra back? What if that was their fate as well?

Who would battle Apep if that was true?

"So we use the Orb," Horus said, looking agitated. "Is it not what you always do when Ra refuses to wake up? Give him a little… shake?"

"We cannot keep doing that!" Hathor argued. "We do not know what might happen in the long run."

"We know what will happen in the short run, don't we?" Horus answered. "We all die."

"We faced Apep before, without Ra," Bast stated, not a trace of her previous good mood on her expression. "Sekhmet, Thoth and I."

"That was not the same," Thoth said, also somber. "We engaged it years later after Ra banished it to the edges of the universe. We tried to end it far away from Heliopolis, to take advantage of the fact that Ra had injured it before and that we could fight it without needing to worry about destroying our home."

"And?" Horus asked, anxious. "I know you did not kill it, but could you face it?"

"Barely," Sekhmet whispered. "And we lost a lot of good men trying."

She could vividly remember that day. They followed the Serpent with their fleets after Ra banished it and finally found it close to an asteroid field. It was leaving oceans of blood floating through space, charred, missing pieces of itself of the size of small planets… And it still destroyed almost their entire fleet, resisted their attacks as if it barely felt them and only stopped pursuing them when Thoth managed to summon the entirety of the asteroid field and throw against it.

Sekhmet and Bast were young back then, not nearly as powerful and knowledgeable as they were now, and Thoth was even stronger now than he was then. And yet, somehow, she did not foresee a second battle against Apep going any better.

They might succeed in banishing it, but at what cost? Their planet, their people? Her entire family? Knowing that her father was refusing to awake was already bad enough, Sekhmet did not want to lose anyone else.

"We need to wake him up," she said, looking at the Ennead. "Believe me."

"We use the Orb, then," Nephthys agreed.

"No!" Hathor exclaimed. "Last time we did this, we almost blew up the sun! Our father almost died by our hands."

"So we use less power this time," Maat proposed, hesitant.

"And if we overdo it, Apep will be the least of our problems!" Hathor retorted. "We will save it the trouble of killing us all."

"If Ra stays asleep," Isis said, "Apep will devour him anyway."

"Let's fight it!" Set roared, his red eyes glowing. "The Orb is pure power, let us use it!"

"And what if we lose it?" Bast asked, raising a single eyebrow. "If Apep gets that Orb… It will be unstoppable. Not a threat only to us, but to the entire universe."

"How would it get it? We only need to kill it first," Set argued, as if it were obvious.

That grated on Sekhmet's nerves.

"Oh, I do not know, how about devouring you and the Orb in one go?" Sekhmet snapped. "I have seen that thing eating an entire star! What would a fool like you do against it? Bark, like the overgrown puppy-thing you are?"

Set jumped to his feet at the same time Sekhmet did and then the entire thing derailed into a huge screaming match. Sekhmet was furious, not only with Set's presumption, but with the whole situation, so much that her orange fur was steaming. Bast was, as always, right at her side, roaring against Set, as Hathor screamed at everybody. Isis and Osiris were doing their best to calm them, Horus was trying to contain his wife from attacking Nephthys and poor Maat simply didn't know what to do to bring back order.

" _Enough!_ " Thoth ordered, hitting the ground with his staff.

And then, for a few seconds, there was darkness, as if the heavenly bodies responded to Thoth's command. The sun stopped shining, the sky became black and the city trembled.

Everybody got quiet immediately, turning to him.

Thoth, for the first time, looked every bit as regal and powerful as Sekhmet knew he was. Not the timid scholar anymore, but the First of the Ennead, Ra's Heir; she felt her fur stand up on the back of her neck for moment there.

"Enough," Thoth repeated, calmly this time, as everybody sat down. He looked at them, his blue ibis head turning to glance at each of his family members. "There is no need to argue or to despair. We are Ennead. Act like it."

Ra and Thoth were probably the only people in the entire universe who could make Sekhmet feel ashamed of her actions. Maybe Bast too, she admitted, but not like that.

He waved in Osiris direction.

"What Osiris said is true, Ra proved difficult to awake," Thoth continued. "But that is hardly the end of the world. Shu and Tefnut have not resorted yet to dire measures, we are still not quite there. We have options and time. The purpose of this meeting was simply to warn you that we must go back, soon, to settle this."

Sekhmet felt her stomach fill with ice.

"What?" she asked, before she could stop herself. "All of us?"

Her brother turned to her. "I am afraid so, sister. While the situation is not as bad as we all thought, we still need every one of us there. We need to decide what to do, how to wake Ra and what to do if we cannot. Heliopolis depends on us."

"No," Sekhmet answered.

Every Ennead turned to her, surprise clear on their looks, but she barely noticed; she, more than anyone, was shocked at herself. Shocked that she would risk Heliopolis to try to protect the land she and Bast created, Wakanda.

Because whether they admitted or not, Earth, like Heliopolis, would soon be facing a battle that might very well destroy it.

She got up, looking at every god in the room.

"You know what is happening in this world, do you not?" Sekhmet said, setting her eyes on Thoth. "You can smell the war in the air, can you not? Do not bother lying to me, brother, someone as smart as you would never ignore the signs. Ares is coming."

The Cheetah Goddess walked to the middle of the throne circle and pointed her clawed finger towards the balcony.

"The Amazons were defeated and enslaved, bloodthirsty creatures are prowling the lands, kingdoms are burning." Her eyes were glowing red. "My agents tell me that Ares awoke the survivors of the Gigantomachy and that he forged an alliance with the Mother of Monsters, Echidna. Ares is breeding an army to face the Olympians and what do you think he will do if he defeats them?"

"I know for a fact that the Olympians are moving to stop him," Thoth countered. "They will not allow the situation to escalate."

"Who told you that?" Sekhmet questioned. "Your flighty little friend, Hermes? Or the stuck up one, Athena, the one you have been pining for so long?"

"I have not–"

"He has not!" Maat squeaked, outraged.

"They are not reliable sources, Thoth!" Sekhmet roared. "They are Olympians! They would never admit that the situation is out of their control! How long until they lose any semblance of order and the whole thing comes spiraling upon us?"

"Ares would never dare to attack us," Osiris said.

Sekhmet looked at him, sceptic. "Ares has sunk so deep into his domain that he became War itself, Osiris. There is nothing he would not do to sate that hunger. I know him, I fought beside him before, I know what I am talking about."

Every god – every powerful being, really – had the power to tie himself to a domain, to extend his reach over the universe. It was not something easily done, but the most powerful gods were able to do it. Storm, Sea, Death, Wisdom, Magic, Love… War. All parts of the universe that could become a part of a god, if he so wished it and was powerful enough to do it.

How much control one could exert over a domain varied, depending on how much power a god had and how tied he was to that domain; and that came with a cost. The more a god affected a domain, the more he was affected by it. Cause and effect.

Ares tied himself so strongly to the domain of War that it was impossible to know where one ended and the other began.

No other god in the history of the universe had done such a thing, gone so far, sunk so deeply, to the point that he stopped controlling War and started being controlled by it. It happened slowly, but as the ages passed Ares lost himself bit by bit, until the god he once was disappeared.

In his place, only War remained. And Sekhmet knew he would never stop until War conquered the entire cosmos.

"If Ares is not stopped," Sekhmet started, "if the Olympians cannot kill him, he will wage war until this world is engulfed in it. I will not allow it."

Thoth's intelligent eyes were fixed on hers.

"What exactly are you suggesting, Sekhmet?" he asked, carefully.

"I will lead Wakanda to war," Sekhmet declared. "I will hunt him down, pursue him to the four corners of the world if I have to. And I will defeat Ares, before he becomes too powerful to be defeated."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Bast exclaimed, jumping up from her throne and walking to her.

Sekhmet was startled by Bast's vehemence, unable to understand why she was so outraged. Did she not wish to save Wakanda and the rest of the world? Did she not care if Ares burned everything they built, everything they loved?

"You plan to unleash a war against the world," Bast started, her blue eyes glowing, "conquer every nation in our way, destroy everyone that opposes us, drown this world in blood… To stop an attack that might never come? _Think_ , sister! What can we possibly gain with this? Imagine all the lives, all the power Ares will gain, all the blood in our hands. And if we lose…"

"You truly believe we would lose?" Sekhmet asked in disbelief. "With both of us leading Wakanda, bolstered by our elite soldiers, there is nothing we cannot defeat!"

"It is not about what we could do, is about what we should do!" Bast snarled. "Do you truly wish to sink our hands in the blood of innocents? How would that make us any different than Ares?"

"We will not kill for the sake of killing, we will fight to stop Ares!"

"And in doing so, unleash a war so terrible upon this world that the God of War would feast like a king!" Bast looked down for a moment. "In the end, Wakanda would either be a pile of ashes… Or a nation of murderers. Is that what you want?"

Sekhmet could not believe Bast was disagreeing with her.

"I want them to live!" she almost yelled. "I want the land we built together to last! I want them to live without fear of being destroyed by a mad God of War! How can you not see that?!"

"How can you not see how wrong this is?!" Bast screamed back. "Sister, you are talking about going to war against people that have done nothing against us, about launching our forces against a crazy god that already has his entire pantheon against him!" She stopped, touching Sekhmet's shoulder. "And you are talking about doing all that while Heliopolis and our father are at risk of being devoured by Apep. Open your eyes!"

There was silence in the room. Every Ennead was watching them, shocked. Sekhmet and Bast had fought before, of course, but never like that. Never with such opposing views, with such strength.

"Bast is correct, Sekhmet," Osiris said after a time. "You are allowing your emotions to control you. Ares will be stopped by the Olympians. Starting a World War now is as rash as it is foolish. We need your help on Heliopolis."

"And your people deserve better than to be forced in such a conflict," Thoth added, gently. "Wakanda can and will live on while we deal with this situation, my sister. Do not allow fear to control your actions."

Sekhmet wanted to argue, she wanted to fight them, to say that they were wrong… But she did not. Instead, she sat back down, Bast's hand still on her shoulder.

Heliopolis needed her now. And she hoped that Wakanda would not.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Necropolis, Temple of Sekhmet – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Azzuri was out of his dept, there was no other way to describe this situation.

King and Protector of Wakanda he might be, but there was so much a human could in a battle between gods. Diana and Sekhmet were simply _more_ than he could ever hope to be. Stronger, faster, more resilient… Azzuri could not even cut Sekhmet with his sword, simply because he was not strong enough to do it.

There was simply nothing he could against them, nothing he could do to help Lady Diana. Because as much as it pained him to admit, Sekhmet could not be allowed to win.

Azzuri had the utmost respect for Sekhmet. She was one of the founders of Wakanda, a goddess that had done everything in her power to protect his homeland since before it even existed. And in any other circumstance, he would follow her to depts of the underworld.

But Sekhmet's vision for Wakanda would lead them to ruin.

The vision Wakanda had been following for thousands of years came from Bast herself. The tenets that had ruled their kingdom since long before Azzuri ever became the Black Panther: to use the blessings of their land to protect themselves, to shield Wakanda from the world and to defend the very existence of what they had from outsiders.

Protect the Secret, that was the one rule. Because if the world knew what Wakanda could do, what they had – from technology to raw vibranium –, then they would try to take it and Wakanda would be forced to fight.

A war that would end with the world under their heels or with Wakanda defeated. So they had to protect their secret, at all costs.

Sekhmet, on the other hand, wanted to use all of Wakanda's might to conquer their enemies before they became a problem. To actually use what they had to make this world better; but under Wakanda's banner. In another time, in another life, Azzuri might have agreed. But he saw war for it was at that very day and he did not wish that upon anybody.

Even for all the right reasons, war was war and people would suffer. Innocents would suffer.

That without accounting for the existence of Ares, the God of War behind all this. Sekhmet's war might be fought for good reasons, but any war would feed Ares. And if he grew too strong… Then the world was doomed.

It pained Azzuri to stand against Sekhmet, but for the good of Wakanda – the good of the world – that was what he would do.

After all, he was a Black Panther.

Trying to ignore the several pains aching throughout his body, Azzuri got up from the last place Sekhmet had tossed him and grabbed his sword, again, ready to jump in the middle of the fight one more time.

As soon as he tried, though, his sharp senses warned him something was coming; almost by reflex, Azzuri dodged the blue energy blast that would have hit his head. Turning quickly, he saw the Red Skull aiming again.

"Know your place, King Azzuri," Schmidt said, firing again, forcing Azzuri to jump. "Do not interfere in their battle."

Azzuri felt his blood boil when his eyes finally met Schmidt's. The leader of HYDRA was a fanatic, a mad man, a murderer. An evil that blighted this world with his very presence. Ares might have been responsible for a lot of terrible things, but Schmidt was not a victim in this.

He was as guilty as the God of War.

Diana believed they were and the same; Azzuri agreed in parts. While he did not think Schmidt was, in fact, Ares' human avatar, he did believe they shared the same goals. And the same black heart.

With or without Ares, a man like Schmidt would find a way to do horrible things. It was his nature.

Azzuri might not be able to kill a goddess, but he could kill a man. He knew what to do.

* * *

 **Ancient Wakanda – Approximately 3000 B.C, before the War of the Gods**

Sekhmet gazed at her lands from the top of the mountain, her powerful eyes trying to absorb every detail from afar. The buildings amongst the trees and rivers, the palaces and statues, the people living their lives peacefully… _Her_ people. She never imagined she could care about something so much, but Sekhmet had to admit that she did now.

Wakanda had captured her heart and the mere possibility that Ares could attack it made her blood boil.

"I knew I would find you here," Bast said from behind her, her softs steps stopping by her side; she sat by her right. "You always liked this place."

The top of the Cheetah statue, built by the entrance of the vibranium mountain, right by the side of the Panther statue. Monuments to honor Wakanda's goddesses.

"It has the best view," she answered after a few seconds.

"Hmm… I prefer a closer view," Bast mentioned. "Don't you?"

"For what purpose?" Sekhmet grumbled. "We are leaving soon. We might as well get used to it."

She could feel Bast rolling her eyes. "We are not going away forever, sister."

"We are not," Sekhmet agreed, not looking at her. "But if we are wrong and Ares does attack, then Wakanda might not be here when we return."

"That is not going to happen," Bast retorted, with a hint of a growl.

"We can only hope you are right, then, sister."

There was a long silence, while both of them simply watched Wakanda from the distance, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

"Do you remember when we finally chose the first king?" Bast said, suddenly, looking at Sekhmet.

"Bashenga," Sekhmet said with a small smile. "He was the best of them. A fierce warrior."

"And a compassionate and wise leader," Bast added. She grinned. "You were quite fond of him, I remember."

"I was not the one who insisted that he called himself 'Black Panther', was I?" Sekhmet replied. "And for him to dress like one."

"You are just jealous that you did not think about it first," Bast teased. "The 'Orange Cheetah', King of Wakanda. Can you imagine that?"

She grinned. "The last thing we need is another me running around."

"On that we agree, sister," Bast laughed.

A few minutes of silence stretched as they sat comfortably.

Sekhmet looked at her sister. "How does Osiris intend to take us all back to Heliopolis? We do not have that many ships."

"Thoth has been working on a Stargate for some years. It should be enough to take us all back, even the mortals who were granted permission to stay on Heliopolis."

She raised a single eyebrow. Any idiot with a bit of magical talent could open a portal that led to a different place inside a single planet, but time and distance mattered in magic. Opening a portal from Egypt to Wakanda was one thing, opening one from Earth to Heliopolis was quite another.

And sustaining it for enough time for an entire city worth of citizens to cross… Well, that required more than talent, it required stability and power. Thus, a Stargate; a portal strong enough to take countless people from one point in the universe to the other, without losing its power or throwing unlucky men and women into the void.

Thoth must have been truly worried about Ra if he bothered to build a Stargate at all, because those things were difficult to make. He wanted to get back to Heliopolis fast.

"I do not want to leave them," Sekhmet admitted, suddenly, looking at Wakanda, "but I do not want to abandon Heliopolis and Father to their fates as well. I feel… Torn."

Bast grabbed her hand and squeezed; she didn't object.

"Wakanda will survive," Bast promised. "We taught them well."

Sekhmet could only hope Bast was right.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Battlefield at the Borders – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Steve watched as the Wakandan army slowly, but surely, defeated HYDRA's troops.

Despite superior numbers and deadly technology, without their commanders HYDRA's army was little more than a mob; a mob that fired energy blasts against them, of course, but disorganized like a pack of civilians.

And the Wakandans? They knew what they were doing and they were making HYDRA pay.

The Dora Milaje, led by Aneka, was working to contain the enemy army, tracing a perimeter around them to herd HYDRA's soldiers away from the remains of the Golden City and prevent them from scatter. The Border Tribe was slowly advancing, shield walls up, forcing the enemy soldiers against the Dora Milaje weapons and cavalry, as the rest of the army followed them.

The Howling Commandos were firing from afar, high up on the cliff previously taken by the Mjölnir cannon, with perfect view of the entire battlefield. Last time Steve saw them, they were making bets as they dropped any HYDRA soldier that tried to take command of the chaotic situation and lead.

Steve was alongside the Border Tribe, advancing towards the enemy army, his shield held in front of him as he fired his pistol.

As a soldier, Steve was cautious; as a student of war, he knew HYDRA was done. Wakanda had won. It was only a matter of time until HYDRA surrendered, tried to retreat or simply died to the last man. It was, thankfully, over.

At least on that front.

Worried, doing his best to keep his attention on what he was doing, Steve thought about Diana.

He prayed to whatever god or goddess that might hear him so they would keep her safe.

* * *

 **Ancient Egypt – Approximately 3000 B.C, before the War of the Gods**

It took Thoth three years to finish the Stargate. Three years that passed like a flash as far as Sekhmet was concerned.

She and Bast said their goodbyes. They warned Wakanda, they made sure they were protected as best as they could, they readied the Wakandan army even though they hoped they would not be needed at all. The Black Panther was blessed by both of them.

And all too soon, they were standing by Thoth's Stargate, watching the Heliopolitans crossing it, going back to their homeland.

The Stargate was an immense arc, made of vibranium and precious stones, branded with glowing runes and saturated with magic. And in the middle of it, instead of being possible for one to look and see the city behind it, the Stargate housed a blue portal, an energy veil that linked the Earthly Citadel to Heliopolis.

The portal stood in front of the palace, in the end of the long and wide street that led to its entrance. Caravans of people filled the street, walking slowly towards the Stargate, taking their families, animals and possessions with them and crossing the gate in small groups. Heliopolitans and humans together, getting ready to leave Earth behind.

Sekhmet observed all of it by Thoth's side. Her soldiers were positioned around the street, protecting the procession, making sure that nothing wrong would happen. The rest of Ennead, save herself, Thoth and Bast, had already left, the first to cross the portal and go back home.

"Is everybody truly leaving?" Sekhmet asked Thoth, as a group crossed the portal, disappearing into it. "No one wants to stay? What will become of the Citadel?"

"We will see who wishes to return once Apep is dealt with," Thoth answered, kindly. "The Citadel will be fine in the meanwhile."

It wasn't as if this was anything new to Heliopolitans, Sekhmet admitted. Earth was not the first planet they visited, not the first realm they settled upon for a few thousand years and then left. Usually, however, some Heliopolitans grew attached and stayed behind.

It was a testament of how tense the situation was with Ra and Apep that Osiris had ordered everyone back. If they could not wake up the Celestial, then they would truly need everyone to fight the Serpent.

Slowly, the procession began to disappear into the portal, becoming smaller and smaller. The long street was no longer packed with people, most of the objects had already been sent through, and soon would be time for the last of the Ennead to go home.

Sekhmet closed her eyes and breathed deeply, absorbing the smell of Earth one last time. It was not the rich aroma of Wakanda, but it was familiar enough.

"We will be amongst the first to return," Bast said, looking at her with a knowing expression. "Just as soon as we help Father to banish Apep once again."

And once they came back, Sekhmet would decide how to deal with the threat Earth faced.

"Alright, we are almost done," Thoth announced, happily, passing his staff from one hand to the other. He looked at Sekhmet and Bast. "Why don't you two go through? I can handle the rest."

"If you insist…" Bast began, probably tired of waiting, lazy cat that she was, but Sekhmet interrupted her.

"No." She glanced at her siblings. "I just want to stay a bit more."

Bast held her stare for a long minute, then nodded. "See you soon, then."

Without saying another word, she crossed the portal and left.

"I understand what you are feeling, sister," Thoth said, suddenly.

"Do you?" Sekhmet asked, skeptic.

"Yes. I also would remain here, if I could."

That bit surprised Sekhmet. "You would? Do you not miss home?"

"Of course I do," Thoth answered. "But I also learned to love this planet. Humans are funny little creatures, but they grow on you. There is much potential in them."

"I know," Sekhmet exhaled, thinking about Wakanda. "But it is… More than that."

"You see in them the potential to grow, you taught them, you cared for them, you became a part of them," Thoth said, knowingly. "They are your children and it pains you to leave them behind." He looked at her surprised face. "I feel much the same for all of you."

Not for the first time, Sekhmet forgot just how old Thoth was. She and Bast were ancient, but close to Thoth they might as well be children. She could believe that he felt about the Heliopolitans exactly what she felt for Wakanda.

Children with awesome potential, but still fumbling with their own innocence and youth against a dark and harsh universe.

"And what is your advice, brother?" she asked.

"Trust in them," Thoth answered, immediately. "Ra once told me something that I never forgot. 'A father who has not prepared his children for his own death, has failed as a father'." He looked at her. "If you believe you have done everything in your power to guide Wakanda, then trust them."

Sekhmet looked to the sky, contemplating Thoth's words. She and Bast had done everything they could for Wakanda, she was certain of it. They had a wise king, a powerful army, advanced science, vibranium…

And yet, some threats were just too big, she knew that. Otherwise the Heliopolitans would not be so afraid of handling Apep without Ra.

Still, there was wisdom in what Thoth said. Maybe Sekhmet could trust Wakanda to go on without her or Bast, to become what they were meant to become. Children needed to learn to stand on their own.

It was at that moment, when she reached that conclusion, that an explosion cracked open the barrier around the Ennead Citadel.

Sekhmet and Thoth looked up, alarmed, only to see a cloud of huge birds descend over the Citadel, their screams piercing the air.

"STYMPHALIAN BIRDS!" Sekhmet yelled, grabbing her swords and jumping into action.

The massive birds took the entire sky, covering the sun, their bloodcurdling screeching terrifying even the most hardened of her soldiers. Stymphalian birds were horrifying creatures, a mix of vultures, eagles and something draconic, bigger than hippos but somehow skeletal, with huge bronze beaks and claws longer than swords. Their feathers were not soft and beautiful like on other birds, but metallic and sharp, weapons and armor at the same time. They were strong, fast, incredibly smart predators that seemed to delight in extremely gruesome hunts.

They were also known to obey only one master: Ares.

Snarling in fury, Sekhmet ran towards the street. The Stymphalian birds were coming out of countless portals opened amongst the clouds, diving from the sky, ripping to shreds anyone that got in their way, their sharp claws and feathers destroying the Heliopolitans still trying to get to the Stargate. They would fly low, screeching, crashing against the panicking crowd in a flurry of metal and blood, and then fly up again, their claws holding those too slow to escape.

Her soldiers were firing sonic blasts from their vibranium spears, trying to keep the creatures away from the civilians, but there was simply too many of them and their metallic feathers proved to be a better armor than they thought, deflecting the blasts without too much damage; one of the birds, annoyed by the attacks it suffered, dived and grabbed one of her soldiers, ripping him in half and making blood rain from the sky.

That one would be the first to die, Sekhmet decided.

Running so fast that she was a blur even to the eyes of the Heliopolitans, Sekhmet jumped, her claws sinking on the walls of a nearby building as she used it as a stepping stone to go higher. Suddenly, she was airborne, flying so fast that the Stymphalian bird did not even see her before she was upon it; her sword slashed it, the vibranium cutting through the metallic feathers, skin and bones as if they weren't even there.

"AIM FOR THE OPEN BEAKS!" she yelled, jumping towards another bird before the dead one could fall, her claws grabbing the nearest creature by the little gaps on its feathered body.

The wound was not enough to kill it, far from it, but the solar fire she poured from her claws was. The feathers dripped like molten steel and then the whole bird was on flames, falling like a meteorite when Sekhmet jumped to kill another.

Around her, the elite soldiers finally started fighting back, forming a perimeter around the fleeing civilians, their sonic blasts hurting the birds; two of them fell heavily, their heads completely destroyed. Sekhmet, however, stayed in the sky, using the creatures as platforms as she jumped, killing them faster than they could flee.

Thoth remained close to the Stargate, blasting away any unfortunate bird that got close enough with his Eldritch magic, securing the portal so the last civilians could escape; at the same time, he was using his magic to protect the city, warding it to make sure that no portal other than the Stargate could remain open, effectively cutting off the enemy's reinforcements. Sekhmet cursed the fact that the Stargate was one-sided, meaning that while there were people crossing to Heliopolis, then no one from Heliopolis could cross back to Earth; she would have liked to have her sister by her side now.

Roaring, putting that thought away from her mind, Sekhmet slashed one last creature before falling back to the ground. Her soldiers gathered around her, shields forming a wall as the last group of civilians finally got to the Stargate. On the distance, coming from the edges of the Citadel, she could hear sounds of combat, as the enemy forces engaged the Sphinxes, their last defense.

Sekhmet was furious, her claws ablaze as she watched the sky, wondering why these creatures were attacking.

As if answering her question, her eyes finally spotted one god appearing on the opposite side of the Stargate, walking towards them: Ares.

The God of War was tall, almost as tall as her, but far broader. His armor was dark, intimidating, with gauntlets that looked like black claws and a four-horned helmet that showed only his vivid red eyes.

Sekhmet could feel the violence pouring from him, almost as if it radiated War itself; her soldiers were trembling like new recruits behind her.

"Well, well, it has been some time, Sekhmet," Ares said, his voice like the roar of some unholy creature.

"You will die for this, Ares!" she answered, her entire body burning with raw fury.

He laughed as if her wrath amused him; that was enough to put her into motion. Sekhmet was _fast_ , incredibly so, but she had never moved as fast as when she attacked Ares. The ground broke under her feet, the stone melting because of the heat she was radiating, as if she became a sunbeam.

Ares did not defend himself, he _could_ _not_ defend himself; he could only stay still as Sekhmet buried her vibranium sword in his chest with a furious roar.

His dark chest plate broke, incapable of stopping the vibranium sword, the metal cracking and melting as the blade sunk deep into his body.

Except there was no blood.

Sekhmet widened her eyes in surprise when she finally noticed that, but the surprise she felt then was nothing compared to when the vibranium blade of her sword was simply absorbed into Ares' chest plate, becoming a part of it, regenerating the armor as if it was never broken in the first place.

He looked at her, his violent red eyes shining in amusement; and then his fist crashed against the side of her head.

She had fought countless wars, faced and defeated unbelievably powerful foes, from gods to demons, djinns to dragons, on thousands of different planets and dimensions. Sekhmet was ancient, older than the King of Olympus and the very Age of Kings on Asgard. She had killed hundreds of thousands, fought even more than that, suffered and inflicted countless wounds.

So Sekhmet could say, without a shred of doubt, that Ares' punch was the strongest hit she ever took.

The dark gauntlet crashed _heavily_ against her head and she felt as if an entire planet had fallen over her skull. Sekhmet did not simply fell down, she was buried under the street, a crater big enough to swallow the buildings around it forming when she hit the ground.

The entire world became hazy and maybe for the first time in her life Sekhmet felt dizzy over a hit. Her usually perfect vision became blurred and everything was spinning around her; the sounds were far away, as if she was not in the city anymore. She could feel her hot, golden blood dripping from the open wound under her red hair.

Groaning, trying to shake the dizziness away, Sekhmet forced herself up, her legs struggling to maintain balance on the debris. The sounds of battle were becoming clearer and clearer as her wound healed itself. And when she opened her eyes, Sekhmet could finally see what was happening.

Ares was no longer close to her; he simply dropped her down and moved forward, as if she was not worth his time. Her soldiers, seeing Sekhmet fall, engaged the God of War. The result, as expected, was a massacre.

From a company of twenty gods, only two remained. The vibranium spears were shattered, probably suffering the same fate as her sword, and the bodies of her soldiers were broken on the ground, a pool of golden blood forming around them. One of the warriors was standing in front of Ares, his spear raised, brave even amongst all that carnage.

The other was currently being lifted by the throat, firmly held by Ares hand.

With an almost bored gesture, Ares twitched his fingers, the sound of bones cracking echoing; he dropped the dead soldier, walking forward, not bothered by the last Heliopolitan challenging him in the least.

"R-Run!" Sekhmet tried to yell, her own mouth not obeying her.

The soldier wearing the Cheetah helmet either did not hear her or simply ignored the order, standing his ground, brave as she knew all her warriors were. He never flinched, not even when Ares broke his spear and not even when he crushed his Cheetah helmet, folding the vibranium pieces over his skull until blood spattered everywhere.

Sekhmet saw red. Her rage simply took over her entire being and suddenly there was no more pain, no more wounds.

There was just Wrath.

Roaring, Sekhmet grabbed her remaining sword and dashed forward, stabbing the back of Ares' leg with the vibranium blade and rolling around him, sinking her claws in the street to stop herself from sliding away. Not giving Ares even one second to react, Sekhmet dashed against him again, her blazing claws slashing non-stop, fire and light glowing as she hit him again and again, digging through his chest plate so she could finally rip off his heart.

She was barely thinking anymore, barely following any sort of strategy; this was raw fury, her Wrath domain given form.

It still was not enough to face War itself.

Ares suffered the hits in silence, barely reacting when the claws stripped him of his armor and sunk in his flesh. And then, suddenly, he raised his hands and grabbed Sekhmet's, his strength so far beyond hers that she just could not move. No one, _ever_ , had been able to do that to her.

"I knew there was a reason why I always liked you," Ares mocked as she tried to pull her own arms from his grasp.

Holding her in place, his red eyes fixed on her, Ares began to levitate all the broken spears around them, the vibranium blades obeying his commands as if they were a part of him. They turned midair, pointing at her; there was no doubt about what was going to happen.

Sekhmet, however, did not surrender. Instead, she reached for all her willpower inside herself, focused all her power, and simply let it all out.

It was as if a second sun had appeared, burning bright and hot, right in the middle of the Citadel. The stone street, the buildings around them, the bodies of her fallen soldiers inside their vibranium armors… Everything burned, igniting themselves violently as Sekhmet released all her power, blasting away the spears pointed at her.

Even Ares, for all his might, could not keep holding her arms, not when his gauntlets became hot-red and the very air around him was burning. Grunting, he let her go, jumping back and summoning a black sword. Sekhmet, still roaring and still glowing like a star, prepared to attack him, barely able to think past her need to kill.

At that moment, Earth itself shook and an unstoppable force grew between Ares and Sekhmet, separating them.

Ares was tossed back, for the second time showing signs of pain, and Sekhmet was dragged through the air, her power being suppressed against her will until she finally stopped glowing and could think normally again, free from her own Wrath influence and Ares violent aura.

As she breathed deeply, tired and crouched over the ground, Thoth walked in front of her, his staff raised, and his power pulsating from his body. His eyes were fixed on Ares.

"You made a very big mistake coming here, child," Thoth said, his presence greater than hers and Ares put together.

The gigantic armored god got on his feet again, staring back at Thoth; then he started laughing.

"I disagree, Thoth," the Olympian retorted. "I think I am exactly where I want to be." He glanced at the Stargate. "It was so kind of you to build a Stargate leading right into Heliopolis… You know better than I just how hard it would be to breach its defenses otherwise."

Above them, the Stymphalian birds circled, as if waiting for the order to attack; on the edges of the Citadel, the sounds of battle continued, swords and spears and the roars of the Sphinxes still alive.

What did Ares want on Heliopolis? Was that the reason he was there?

Ares' burning eyes fixed on Thoth.

"Heliopolis has in its possession the greatest weapon ever forged and you use it as an alarm clock." He shook his head in disbelief. "The things I could do with that Orb…"

The Orb! Of course that was what Ares wanted. And since he could not reach Heliopolis any other way – not without a gigantic offensive against the planet – he waited until Thoth built a Stargate leading directly to it.

Sekhmet had a very good imagination, but not even she could predict what would mean to the universe if the Orb fell into Ares' hands.

"And I assume you intend to make a trade?" Thoth said, unbothered by the revelations. "If I promise to give you the Orb you will cease your attack, or something like it?"

Ares chuckled.

"Oh, no, I will destroy Heliopolis either way. You two alongside it."

Sekhmet showed her teeth at him, snarling. Thoth simply gazed at the God of War, thoughtful.

"You have truly lost yourself, have you not?" the Ennead asked, suddenly, and Sekhmet thought she heard a note of sadness. "You have sunk so much into the domain of War that you are barely a person anymore." He stared at Ares' red eyes. "You were once a great god, Ares, a champion of Olympus and a protector of mortals. It is truly a pity to see what you have become."

There was a flash of anger in Ares' gaze.

"You have no concept of what I have become," Ares snarled. "The power I now hold. I am more powerful than any god, even Zeus!"

"A true god has no need to prove himself, Ares," Thoth said, calmly. "You are merely a child playing with forces you do not understand."

"If that is true, then face me! If you dare," the God of War challenged.

Thoth did not answer. He simply shook his ibis head slowly, then turned to Sekhmet.

"There will be no more fighting today," Thoth announced.

"What?!" Sekhmet exclaimed, certain she might have misheard it. "What are you saying? Let us kill him!"

"Ares will be dealt with," Thoth explained, "but not by us. We have more urgent matters to attend to."

Sekhmet roared in fury. Did her brother truly intended to allow that creature alive after all that?

"Leave if you want to, brother, I will not. Not until his body is ashes under my feet."

"Yes, face me, Sekhmet!" Ares boomed, opening his arms wide. "Or you might regret not defeating me today… I am certain your pets will."

He dared threaten her? Threaten Wakanda? Sekhmet started to glow again, her body exuding heat and light once more, her claws coming out, blazing, ready to attack.

Before she had the chance, however, Thoth pointed his staff at her and blasted her away: right through the Stargate.

A pair of hands grabbed Sekhmet before she could crash against the ground – Bast's, she did not even need to look to know – and as soon as she was able to get up she dashed back to the Stargate, ready to cross back and fight Ares.

The portal, however, repelled her, as if she was trying to breach an impenetrable wall. She could only watch through it, like a window, but not go back.

"Enough blood has been spilt today, Ares," she heard Thoth saying.

"Oh, I disagree," Ares said, two black swords taking form in his hands.

"You would. Your appetite for it has grown and cannot be sated anymore. You have made a mistake, Ares, and I wonder if you still have enough of your old self left to realize that."

And saying this, Thoth simply turned his back to him and started to walk towards the Stargate.

"Do you truly believe I will allow you to leave, Thoth?" Ares asked, raising his swords. "If you do not defeat me first, you will not go back to Heliopolis. That is, if you can."

Thoth stopped, glancing at him.

"You need at least two sides to have a war, Ares," he said. "I refuse to be one of them. Farewell."

Ares snarled in fury and prepared to attack, but even then Thoth ignored him. Sekhmet and Bast were screaming at the Stargate, trying to warn Thoth, trying to make their brother realize that he would need to fight if he wanted to live.

That was when all the light on Earth suddenly vanished, as if night had arrived without warning and taken the daylight away.

For a moment, Sekhmet and Bast were stunned, uncapable of understanding what was happening; then they saw Ares looking up and raising his arms to defend himself.

Thoth crossed the Stargate a second before the meteor he pulled from the heavens crashed against the Citadel, obliterating everything, including the very own Stargate.

Ares, however, would survive this, Sekhmet had no doubt.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Necropolis, Temple of Sekhmet – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Diana was slammed against the wall, her feet dangling far from the ground as Sekhmet held her with incredible strength; her shield and sword were thrown from her hands.

And before she could do anything to escape, Sekhmet's teeth buried themselves into the side of her neck.

"AAARRRGHH!" Diana screamed, feeling the fangs rip her flesh like it was nothing.

Desperately, Diana started to punch Sekhmet's head, her fists clashing violently against the Cheetah's skull, the sound echoing in the temple; the Goddess of Wrath only response was to sink every single one of her claws into Diana's shoulders.

Claws that not only cut her, but burned like pure fire; the smoke that filled the room smelled like burnt meat.

The pain was almost unbearable, but the rage Diana felt was even greater; she focused on the latter, fueling her strength. Her sword was on the ground, far from her, so was her shield. But the Lasso of Hestia still was on her waist.

Thinking fast, Diana grabbed the lasso and wrapped it around Sekhmet's neck. And still being held against the wall, the Amazon pulled it, applying every bit of her strength to pull the Cheetah's head away from her neck.

Sekhmet might have ignored the punches and kicks, but she was not able to ignore her windpipe being slowly crushed. She roared, teeth still sunk into Diana's neck, and redoubled her efforts to slam Diana against the wall; her claws were even hotter now. Diana gritted her teeth and continued pulling the lasso.

At the very second Sekhmet's mouth opened and her teeth were dragged out from Diana's neck, the Amazon raised both legs against the Cheetah's chest, pushed her away and jumped over her. Diana twisted her body midair, still holding the lasso, and when she landed behind Sekhmet she pulled it with all her power, forcing Sekhmet's head down.

Right against her knee.

The hit was spectacular and the sound was triumphantly loud. Golden blood splattered on the ground as Sekhmet's head was tossed back up, but before the Cheetah could get her bearings, Diana pulled the lasso again, kneeing the goddess' face one more time.

And before Sekhmet could slash her with her claws, Diana pulled the lasso with all her strength and tossed the Cheetah far away, sending her crashing against her own vibranium statue.

Bleeding, burnt and cut in several places, Diana ran towards her own sword and grabbed it, leaving the shield behind. As much as she wanted to rely on it for defense, Diana realized – perhaps too late – that the shied was making her slow. She needed speed to face the Cheetah Goddess.

Almost as if answering her previous prayers, Diana's eyes fixed themselves on a vibranium sword being held by one of the many Sekhmet statues in her hybrid form; a sword that was curved like a sickle.

Without thinking twice, Diana grabbed it, advancing towards Sekhmet with one sword in each hand.

* * *

 **Heliopolis, Thoth's Temple – Approximately 3000 B.C, before the War of the Gods**

Thoth's Temple on Heliopolis was a sight to see. Calling it a "temple", of course, might not be exactly correct, since it was big enough to be a city by itself, but those technicalities did not bother the Heliopolitans all that much.

A thousand pillars of vibranium and stone, fountains that spouted crystalline water, windows of stained glass that drew patterns on the walls with the multicolored light of the hundred suns around them, statues of the Ennead carved with precious stones…

The place was incredible, specially after thousands of years without seeing it, but Sekhmet could care less about it.

"We must go back!" she yelled at Thoth and Bast, the three of them standing inside Thoth's personal chambers. "We cannot allow this attack to go unanswered!"

Sekhmet never felt fury like she was feeling at the moment. She was furious because of what Ares did, because of what he threatened to do, furious with herself for not being able to defeat him, furious with Thoth for denying her the right to fight.

More than anything, Sekhmet was furious at the passiveness she was seeing on Bast and Thoth's faces right now.

"We cannot go back," Bast said, her voice low. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if controlling her emotions, then turned to Sekhmet. "A war against Ares would take years to end, regardless of the outcome. Our armies are needed here, now, against Apep."

There was a minute of complete silence.

"Bast is correct," Thoth finally said, sighing. "As much as it pains me to admit."

Sekhmet could not believe her ears.

"You intend to do nothing?" she questioned, stunned. "Ares attacked our city, killed our people, destroyed our Citadel, admitted he intends to invade Heliopolis… And your answer to all that is to ignore it? To simply let it go?"

Her voice was a but a hiss, as Sekhmet did her best to contain her rage; her best, however, was proving to be ineffective. Her eyes were glowing red, her fur was glowing and steaming, she could feel the flames inside her throat, ready to come out, as her hands shook.

She had enough. Roaring, Sekhmet released her blazing claws and decapitated a nearby statue.

"Since when are you two cowards?! Since when we allow such offenses to go unpunished?"

"It is not a matter of cowardice, sister, and you know it," Bast answered, unamused by the accusation. "We simply cannot afford to start a war right now, not when we might need our armies to face Apep. Do you want Heliopolis to share the Citadel's fate?"

"Then I will go alone!" Sekhmet snarled. "I will hunt and kill Ares by myself!"

"How?!" Bast asked, getting up. "How? Ares became so intertwined with the War domain that we do not even know if he can be killed! Every soldier he loses, every hit he suffers, every drop of blood his forces shed actually make him _more_ powerful!"

Thoth simply watched his two sisters, his tiredness becoming more pronounced as their voices raised.

"The Olympians have a plan to stop him," he said, his voice low. "We must trust our old allies."

"No, our trust in them is what got us where we are!" Sekhmet retorted. "They were the ones who allowed Ares to become the monster he is! They were the ones who did not stop him when they could! And now our people are dead, our city is destroyed and we have a mad God of War threatening Wakanda!"

"What?" Bast exclaimed, raising her eyes.

"Oh, you did not know that, sister?" Sekhmet asked, sarcastically. "Did you think that the personification of War would stop at one city? Do not be foolish! It is a matter of time until he covets what Wakanda has. And then we will have an army of monster armed with vibranium."

The Panther Goddess turned to Thoth.

"Is this true?" she asked.

Thoth sighed, looking more tired than she ever saw him. "The Olympians will not allow that. They already know what happened with the Citadel, I warned them. Zeus will stop Ares before things escalate any further."

"I am sure Zeus is just heartbroken over our losses!" Sekhmet said, ironically. "But I am certain he will survive one more foreign kingdom being reduced to ashes if it buys him more time to prepare his forces. It is not as if we are actually there to demand anything from him, is it?"

"Zeus would not–" Bast started.

"He would do what is best for the Olympians!" Sekhmet harshly interrupted. "And we should do the same for our people." She grabbed Bast's shoulders. "What is best for Wakanda. They _need_ us, sister. Are we simply going to ignore them and hope for the best?"

That was something Sekhmet simply could not do. Wakanda was a dream forged into reality by her and Bast, a kingdom that housed their people. The Wakandans might not share her blood, but they were her family as much as Bast and Thoth were. Her sister needed to see that.

Slowly, however, in a gentle movement that shattered Sekhmet's heart, Bast looked down and gave a step back.

"We are needed here, sister. We must trust our allies."

Sekhmet could not believe her ears. How could Bast say that? How could she gamble Wakanda's existence? How could she trust a pantheon that had already failed them so spectacularly? Wakanda needed its goddesses, now more than ever!

And Sekhmet intended to be there for them. With or without Bast.

"So be it," she said, finally. "If you will not help me, then I will do it myself. I will prepare Wakanda and lead them against Ares."

"What?! No! Are you mad?!" Bast exclaimed. "You will just make Ares that much more powerful! You saw it yourself, you cannot defeat him!"

"I can if I truly embrace my domain, just as he did," Sekhmet replied, coldly. "I will become Wrath and I will destroy him."

"Listen to yourself, Sekhmet!" Bast roared. "Even if you did that, if you were crazy enough to do such a stupid thing, what good would it do?! You will just replace War with Wrath, an army of monsters with Wakanda! Do you truly want to make Wakanda a nation of murderers? To have the blood of an entire world on their hands?"

"Whatever keeps them alive, sister," Sekhmet answered. "If they must conquer the world to be safe, then so be it."

"You will lose yourself," Thoth warned. "Just as Ares did. Everything you are, everything you feel… Once you become Wrath, all that will be gone. Wakanda will not matter to you. Nothing will."

"THEN I WILL KILL MYSELF AFTER I KILL ARES!" Sekhmet yelled, flames burning over her shoulders. "All that matters is to Wakanda to be safe."

Saying this, Sekhmet turned her back to them, summoning her Ankh. She glanced at Bast one last time.

Then she opened a portal to Wakanda and crossed it. It was time to go to war.

* * *

"That stupid bitch!" Bast roared, once Sekhmet disappeared. "Always allowing her emotions to cloud her judgment, always allowing her wrath to take the best of her!"

Bast's heart was pounding inside her chest, faster than ever before. Everything was falling apart. The Citadel was no more, Ares was preparing a war against the world, Apep was near and Ra was still asleep.

And now Sekhmet wanted to cease her existence and embrace her Wrath, to become it, so she could lead Wakanda in a war to conquer Earth and kill Ares.

It was madness. There was no winning in that scenario. Either Ares won, destroying everything on his path, including Sekhmet and Wakanda; or Sekhmet won, but turning herself and Wakanda into bloodthirsty monsters even worse than Ares' forces.

Wakanda needed a shield, not a sword. They needed to stay away from the wars of the world, not be the center of them.

Sekhmet was about to doom Wakanda and herself. Bast could not allow that.

"I will stop her," Bast said, looking at Thoth as she summoned her Ankh and opened a portal. "And I will bring her back."

Thoth said nothing, he did not have too. The sadness on his expression mirrored Bast's.

They both knew that no one would come out victorious in that fight. They had already lost.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Necropolis, Temple of Sekhmet – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Diana and Sekhmet met in the middle of room, swords and claws clashing against it other with such speed that both of them were blurs. On the other side of the room, Azzuri and Schmidt fought, vibranium sword and claws against guns and a shield.

Red and golden blood stained the ground, leaving it almost slippery as the Amazon faced the Cheetah. Moving faster than she thought possible, Diana blocked Sekhmet's blazing claws using her bracelet and slashed her new vibranium sword, opening a big gash on her stomach.

Before she could do anything else, Sekhmet jumped up, her claws sinking on the ceiling as she stuck herself to it, not unlike a spider; when she looked down, her mouth was filled with flames. Diana understood what was about to happen instantly and raised her arms, crossing her bracelets in front of her.

Fire rained upon her, hotter than anything she had ever touched. But when the stream of flames finally reached her, her Bracelets of Submission did what they were meant to: they swallowed the attack, protecting Diana from being burned alive.

And when she clashed her bracelets against each other, the flames were released back.

Sekhmet jumped before the gigantic fireball hit her. The explosion broke that part of the ceiling, making huge pieces of it fall heavily against the ground, but neither Diana nor Sekhmet cared about that, meeting again in a flurry of sharp blades and claws.

Diana had no idea how she was able to keep up with Sekhmet. The Goddess was stronger, faster and her fur seemed thick like an armor. Her claws were sharp and hot and she moved with a natural grace that even Diana could not hope to replicate.

But she knew that would not last.

She was keeping up, but every drop of blood she lost took a bit of her strength away; and by now, Diana's entire body was full of gashes, from her legs and arms, to her back, face and neck. Every bit of unprotected skin was hurt, either cut or burnt, and she had already taken her fair share of crushing blows.

That was beginning to cost her.

Missing a hit that she would never normally miss, Diana left her side exposed; it was all it took for Sekhmet to break her guard and slam her feet against her ribs. Diana flew against a sarcophagus, her back breaking the stone, and before she could even take a breath Sekhmet was upon her again.

Diana dodged to the side at the last possible moment, seeing Sekhmet's blazing claws ripping apart what was left of the sarcophagus – right where she was a second ago – and she jumped back, trying to gather some distance between them.

Breathing heavily, blood flowing from her wounds, Diana raised her swords and prepared to fight again. The world depended on her.

She could do this all day.

* * *

 **Ancient Wakanda – Approximately 3000 B.C, before the War of the Gods**

Bast followed her sister' essence when she opened the portal; the gate opened itself in the middle of the sky and the Panther Goddess allowed herself to fall, all the way down to the long river under her.

She landed on the water, but Bast did not sink. Instead, her feet touched the surface of the river as if it was solid ground, her powers keeping her above water.

Sekhmet waited for her, also walking on water, her Ankh firmly held in her hand.

"Stop this, sister, please!" Bast pleaded. "Come back with me. We need you."

"Wakanda needs me, Bast," Sekhmet corrected, speaking softly, "now more than ever. You saw what Ares did against the Ennead Citadel, against _us_ , gods! What do you think it will happen if he attacks Wakanda?"

Wakanda would be wiped out, that was the answer. Bast knew it, Sekhmet knew it, Thoth knew it.

But Bast trusted Thoth, her brother had never failed her before. If he said the Olympians had a plan to deal with Ares, then she would believe him. Bast knew Zeus, she knew that the King of Olympus would never allow Ares to get away with what he did.

She _had_ to believe. Because right at that moment, Heliopolis needed her and Sekhmet even more than Wakanda.

"I promise you, Sekhmet, that we will return to Wakanda as soon as we deal with Apep," Bast said. "I _swear_ on my life!"

Her sister simply stared back, unresponsive.

"And if he attacks before?" Sekhmet asked. "Are you willing to take that chance?"

Bast snarled, suddenly.

"And what is your answer to the problem, Sekhmet?!" Bast growled. "To start a war against the world as you hunt for Ares? To make him even stronger?" She stopped, breathing fast, rage filling her. "To become an Avatar of Wrath so you can defeat the God of War?"

There was a minute of silence.

"If that is what it takes," Sekhmet finally said.

That was enough to send Bast into a furious state.

"This is madness! Think about what you are saying, sister! There is no going back, no undoing such a thing! You will become another Ares and then _you_ will be the one to destroy Wakanda! If you do not bring the might of the entire world upon it first, by declaring war on this planet."

The water around Sekhmet began to boil and evaporate as the flames burned on her fur.

"I will do whatever it takes to keep Wakanda safe! If that means destroying myself in the process, then so be it! It is a sacrifice I am willing to make."

Bast closed her eyes, ignoring the waves of energy generated by Sekhmet's wrath. Leading Wakanda to war to stop Ares was already a terrible idea; following the God of War into binding herself to her Wrath domain was even worse.

It was like she did not recognize Sekhmet anymore. It was like she was talking to a stranger. Both of them had come to love Wakanda deeply, but somehow that love had become twisted inside Sekhmet.

It turned into an obsession.

If allowed, Sekhmet would burn this entire world, destroy herself in the process and become worse than Ares ever was, all to save Wakanda from a threat that might never come. Bast feared for Wakanda as much as Sekhmet did, but this was _not_ the answer.

Bast opened her eyes, the blue glow even stronger.

"I cannot allow you to do that, Sekhmet," Bast declared, summoning her own Ankh. "And I will stop you."

Sekhmet snarled, unsheathing her claws.

"You will try!"

* * *

 **Wakanda, Outside the Necropolis, Aboard the Royal Talon Flyer – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Nanali's breathing was ragged and filling her lungs was becoming harder by the second. Her skin was burning with fever and there was a weakness on her limbs that the Queen had never felt before in her life.

The bandages around her wound were red with blood.

Something was very wrong, Nanali knew it. This went beyond the wound she suffered in her battle, beyond the stabbing injury. This was poison. As Dora Milaje, Nanali had been exposed to it before, for training and immunization, so she knew how it felt.

Nothing this strong had ever filled her body, however.

Closing her eyes, Nanali tried to focus on her breathing. Right now Azzuri and Lady Diana were battling for the future of Wakanda and the very Earth trembled. The Queen could feel it in her bones as the entire Necropolis shook and that could only mean one thing.

Sekhmet had arrived.

Nanali grieved for what was happening. Sekhmet was a goddess the Wakandans respected as much as they did Bast, the one that had taught them how to fight, how to craft vibranium, how to protect themselves; legend was, she trained Bashenga, the very first Black Panther, in the ways of combat.

Fighting her was almost sacrilege, a betrayal that tasted bitter to Nanali. But if they wished to continue to follow Bast's peaceful ways – and they did, now more than even – than they really had no choice.

Could they really defeat Sekhmet, though? Could Lady Diana, a young goddess that did not even know what she was, face such an ancient and powerful adversary?

Nanali had never felt so afraid before. For Azzuri, the future of her sons, for Wakanda and for the very world. If they failed to stop Sekhmet, to defeat or to reason with her, then Ares would take this opportunity to finally take back all the power he lost after the War of the Gods.

Most of all, Nanali feared not being able to help.

Her husband was fighting, Lady Diana was facing a goddess, the Wakandan army was clashing against HYDRA… And she could barely breathe or keep her eyes open. Her strength was vanishing and there wasn't a single thing she could do but pray. Pray for Wakanda.

And to her shock, her prayers were answered.

Nanali watched in surprise and awe as a huge astral form appeared in front of her, taking the form of a Black Panther, adapting her massive size to fit inside the aircraft.

Bast, the Panther Goddess of Wakanda.

The Queen could barely believe it. She knew Bast existed, that other gods were real, but aside from Lady Diana – who still did not know she was one – Nanali never believed she would lay eyes on one. Especially Bast, the patron goddess of her homeland.

Unfortunately, Nanali could think of only one reason why Bast was there.

"I am dying," Nanali realized, her voice but a whisper.

Despite her realization, Nanali remained calm. The goddess watched her for a moment, in silence, then approached.

"Yes," she agreed, her deep voice soft.

Nanali chuckled at the simple agreement – something that sent a sharp pain inside her – and tried to focus on what the goddess was saying.

"I suppose I should feel honored," Nanali joked, "that the Panther Goddess came for my soul personally."

The goddess got closer from her, almost touching her head, and for a moment Nanali was afraid she had offended her.

"I should be the one honored to come for such a bright soul, young one," she corrected, kindly. "Most souls can find their way to the other side without help or following a friendly psychopomp, but if I could I would be there for all of you."

Nanali said nothing in response, still overwhelmed by the news.

"You are afraid," Bast guessed, after a moment, "but not for yourself."

The Queen shook her head. "For them. Azzuri, my sons, Wakanda… They are facing a terrible storm."

Bast's expression became filled with sadness and grief.

"I am sorry for this, young one." She breathed deep, even though Nanali was certain her astral form did not need air. "My sister was not always like this. She… She was kind once. A protector. Not Wrath personified."

Suddenly, the Panther glowed and in its place was a hybrid between woman and panther, much taller than a human, with the same black fur covering her body, claws and fangs, pointed years, long dark hair and a tail. She was wearing some kind of armor, apparently made out of vibranium.

She kneeled close to Nanali.

"This is my fault," Bast admitted. "My responsibility. And yet, here we are. Humans and a young goddess fighting a battle in my stead, while I am Sleeping on the other side of the universe, unable to arrive on Earth even if I tried."

The goddess closed her eyes for a moment, in pain.

"I should have killed her when I had the chance."

Nanali raised her hand and touched – or at least tried to – Bast's hand.

"Family should never spill each other's blood," the Queen said, in a whisper. "I do not fault you for sparing your sister."

She meant it. Nanali could not imagine how horrible something like that must be, to be forced to fight and kill a loved one.

Her mind went to T'Chaka and N'Jobu when that thought crossed her mind.

As soon as it did, she thought about her own situation. Her sons would grow up without her. Her King would live without a Queen.

If they survived what was happening in the Necropolis, that was.

"Sekhmet… Can she be stopped?" Nanali asked. "Reasoned with?"

Bast was in silence for a few seconds.

"Being awakened before her time is a confusing experience," she said, finally. "Sekhmet can barely think right now, her mind is taken over by instincts and self-preservation. It does not help that she entered Sleep forcibly, injured, after a battle with me. She is feral." Bast lifted her head and looked at Nanali, sighing. "So while I hope she would see reason, I am afraid she will not."

"So that means… That the only way to stop her is…"

"For Diana to kill her, yes," Bast finished, eyes glassy. "Otherwise she will kill everyone there, until her mind finally recovers."

There was a long silence.

"There is absolutely nothing we can do?" Nanali asked, desperately.

Bast stared curiously at Nanali.

"You pity my sister? Even when your husband is fighting her, even though she would lead Wakanda to war should she win?"

Nanali, breathing slowly, met Bast's eyes.

"I pity _you_ , my Goddess."

There was a flash of surprise and then amusement in Bast's expression.

"A dying mortal offering help to a goddess… Wakandans never cease to amaze me, even after thousands of years," she chuckled. Bast looked at Nanali. "Ares will feast on this battle regardless of the winner. It does not matter who remains alive, if Diana or Sekhmet, the death of a goddess will give him incredible power."

She got up, eyes never leaving the Queen.

"But, to answer your question, yes, there is something _we_ can do," Bast continued, raising a single eyebrow. "What do you think I am doing here?"

For a moment, Nanali wasn't sure what to answer.

"I thought you said you were here to take me to the afterlife," she said, slowly.

Bast shrugged in a very casual, very _mortal_ , way.

"I thought we could do something first," the Panther Goddess said; she grinned. "You are not in any hurry to die, are you?"

Again, Nanali wasn't sure what to say.

* * *

 **Ancient Wakanda – Approximately 3000 B.C, before the War of the Gods**

Sekhmet raised her Ankh to the sky, pouring her incredible power through it. Slowly, a small sphere of pure solar fire began to form. The sound was amazing and the waters of the river rippled and shook like the waves of an ocean.

Suddenly, the small sphere grew bigger, floating over Sekhmet, like a tiny red sun; then she threw it.

Bast waited where she was, her eyes never leaving the approaching fireball, as it flew towards her in great speed. The river parted to allow it passage, the waters evaporating because of the high heat.

The Panther Goddess' Ankh began to glow with blue solar fire.

Snarling, Bast dashed forward and hit the fireball with her Ankh, using all her power to deflect it; the small red sun was tossed to the side, flying high and finally clashing against the vibranium meteor mountain behind them.

Right against the Cheetah statue carved on the mountain, destroying it completely in a huge explosion.

The waters of the river ran gold from all the blood they had spilt. Mountains had fallen, forests burned and the very earth was cracked, as if a huge earthquake had destroyed it. Sekhmet and Bast were breathing heavily, bleeding, tired after fighting for days, but neither of them was slowing down.

They fought all over Wakanda, in both Aspects, with such violence that maps would have to be redrawn after they changed the landscape, until they were back to very river where they had started.

Bast would drag Sekhmet back to Heliopolis even if it had to be piece by piece, that she swore.

Both sisters roared and attacked, summoning their swords as they dashed in incredible speed; the clash of the two vibranium sickle-like swords echoed throughout Wakanda. They pushed the blades, trying to force the other to wield, as their feet pressed against the water as if it was solid ground.

"We are the Eyes of Ra," Bast spoke, staring at Sekhmet's red eyes. "Within each of us flows his power and his duty towards our people! Stop this nonsense! Your people need you!"

"My people need me here!" Sekhmet snarled back. "My people need me to kill Ares, to make him pay!"

Allowing her Ankh to go back to its pocket dimension, Bast grabbed the sword with both hands and pushed with all her strength, tossing Sekhmet back.

"You are dooming Wakanda!" Bast shouted. "Not saving it!"

"You are the one ignoring your responsibility towards them!" Sekhmet yelled back.

And then both of them advanced.

Mortals would not be able to see them at the speed they moved, running on the river, faster than the drops of water that were raised. They simply disappeared in thin air.

When they clashed, both swords covered in solar fire, the explosion was massive.

The river was destroyed, the water evaporating completely, and a crater opened under them, breaking the earth as it got wider. A tower of red and blue flames pierced the sky, reaching the clouds, and the heat was enough to set the trees around them on fire. The very air boomed.

And at the moment the light faded and winds calmed down, Bast was the only one standing.

Sekhmet was kneeling, her sword broken, as golden blood dripped from her mouth.

"Am I… being defeated?" she whispered, as if surprised by the outcome.

Bast stared back at her, eyes glowing blue, the very personification of power.

"It is over, sister," the Panther Goddess declared. "I will not allow you to doom Wakanda – and yourself – over misplaced fear. Ares will be defeated by the Olympians and Wakanda will not go to war, let alone yourself. We are going back to deal with Apep."

Sekhmet's red eyes glowed as well and she forced herself up, fire burning around her.

"You will have to kill me first!" the Cheetah Goddess screamed, Wrath taking her completely.

She attacked. Bast simply waited, her eyes seeing Sekhmet's moves as she advanced, claws blazing, against her.

When she finally arrived, Bast dodged, unsheathed her claws, and slashed Sekhmet's throat, a torrent of golden blood flying.

Her sister grabbed her slashed throat with both hands, eyes wide. And while she was in shock, Bast opened a portal to Heliopolis and kicked her in, jumping through soon after to grab her falling sister.

Despite her apparent ruthlessness, Bast's heart was beating fast, the fear of having injured Sekhmet beyond saving taking her mind.

As she ran to find Thoth, Sekhmet in her arms, Bast looked back to Wakanda one last time. She wished with all her power that the Olympians would keep Ares far away from there. If they survived Apep, she would return to make sure they were safe.

Bast hoped her sister would be alive to do so as well.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Necropolis, Temple of Sekhmet – April 25** **th** **, 1944**

Diana's feet broke the stone wall as she twisted midair to avoid crashing against it after being thrown by Cheetah; eyes still fixed on her adversary, Diana pushed against the wall, launching herself forward with a war-cry.

Sekhmet managed to jump out of the way just in time, avoiding both swords and wrapping her tail around Diana's neck; the Amazon was pulled back and slammed against the ground.

The Cheetah Goddess clawed foot descended like a hammer upon Diana's face.

Feeling her skull breaking the ground, Diana ignored the pain and stabbed with her sword, piercing Sekhmet's leg. The goddess roared in agony but did not pull back, not until Diana twisted the blade, _hard_ , feeling the hot golden blood flow from the wound.

She got up, breathing heavily, when Sekhmet jumped back, the vibranium sword still stuck to her leg. Thinking fast, before Sekhmet could simply pull the sword out and heal her wound – like she had already done several times – Diana grabbed her Lasso and wrapped it around the goddess wounded leg, pulling hard.

Sekhmet fell down and was dragged to Diana, roaring and twisting like a feral animal, and Diana kicked her away with all her strength, allowing the Lasso of Hestia to release the goddess. The Cheetah flew across the room, hitting the wall so strongly that it broke.

Diana could not believe how strong Sekhmet was. She was fighting without weapons, without armor, without a Symbol of Power; she was fighting before restoring her full powers, since she was forcibly awoken from her Sleep; and she was feral, with barely any intelligent thought in her mind.

And Diana could barely keep up.

Was this the power of a true god? Diana shuddered to think how strong Ares would become if he restored his full power. And everything that was happening on that day, every act of war, was a step towards that catastrophe taking place.

She glanced quickly at Azzuri, still fighting Ares' avatar, Schmidt. Diana needed to deal with Sekhmet as soon as possible – _if_ possible – so she could kill Ares with the Godkiller sword; it was the only way to truly end him.

Eyes back on Sekhmet, Diana dodged fast when the Cheetah tossed the vibranium sword back at her – grabbing it midair –, before the goddess lunged with all her speed against her, galloping through the temple.

Diana ran towards her, as if to meet her head-on, only to slide under Sekhmet when she tackled, burying the vibranium sword deep in her stomach as she slashed the goddess other side with the Godkiller.

The Cheetah Goddess screamed in pain and fell, but Diana was barely up when she attacked again, completely ignoring the sword impaled through her abdomen, as if she was simply too furious to feel pain.

She advanced, swinging her claws madly, and Diana did the best she could to defend herself with her bracelets and sword, but Sekhmet was just too fast. Diana got hit directly in the face, feeling the claws cutting and burning her cheeks, and the Godkiller sword was swatted from her hand.

And then Sekhmet tried to bite her.

Diana did the only thing she could: she stuck her bracelet inside Sekhmet's mouth, stopping her truly terrifying teeth from ripping her skin.

And then she punched the handle of the vibranium sword, still inside the Cheetah's belly.

Sekhmet growled, the bracelet still stuffing her mouth, but Diana pushed back, keeping herself extremely close from the huge Heliopolitan so she couldn't swing her claws. And every single moment she was there, she kept punching the sword handle, the vibranium blade inside the Cheetah cutting every time her fist connected.

Diana did not even realize she was also roaring, putting all her strength behind her punches, pushing Sekhmet back. Blood was flowing from the Cheetah's wound and Sekhmet never stopped to try to push her away, hit her, but Diana refused to allow any distance to be put between them.

Finally, Sekhmet's back crashed against her own vibranium statue, the big Cheetah in the center of the room. Diana was yelling as she hit her, trying to end this while she could, while she still had strength. The vibranium sword piercing Sekhmet entered the statue behind her, basically nailing the Cheetah Goddess to it.

That was when Sekhmet started to glow like the sun itself. And before Diana could even process what was happening, a blast of solar fire exploded right in her face.

The entire room trembled. Everything around them not made of vibranium turned to dust instantly. The walls, floor and ceiling cracked, entire sections of it falling apart. Azzuri and Schmidt were tossed far away by the explosion – a pile of debris collapsing on top of them – and the crater that formed around Sekhmet was a ruin of dust and molten stone.

Diana was sent flying, almost blind, her entire body covered in fire. She bounced against the floor, breaking everything that still hadn't collapsed in her way, until she finally collided against the wall by the entrance.

The clash was so powerful that the flames around her were extinguished and she slid to the ground, slowly, in the brink of unconsciousness.

So much pain, so much agony, so much… _Too_ much. Diana's entire existence was pain and all her strength seemed to have left her body. She was laying down, face against the floor, incapable of move even her fingers. Her skin was burnt and blistered, full of cuts, and her vision was dark, something she could not know if it was due the solar fire or simply exhaustion.

Diana could not do it. She could not slay a god, it was impossible. Even with the Godkiller sword. She was a fool to ever think she could kill Ares.

Her mother was right, after all, she was not an Amazon.

"Time to wake up, Diana," a strange voice said. "You have rested long enough."

Slowly, Diana opened her eyes. Everything was blurred, the sounds so far away, but eventually she managed to see who was speaking.

"Nanali?" she asked, her voice weak.

The Queen of Wakanda smiled.

"Not quite," Nanali answered in a voice that was not hers.

Diana did not understand what she meant, her mind sluggish, as she tried to focus. That was when she saw her eyes: they were not brown like she remembered, but entirely blue, giving out a slight glow. And the voice… It wasn't _one_ voice, Diana realized, but two speaking at the same time.

Nanali's usual and familiar voice… And the deep, sagely voice that belonged to Bast.

That made Diana's eyes widen.

" _Bast_?"

The Panther Goddess inside Nanali grinned.

"Nanali was kind enough to share her body," Bast explained, her eyes getting harder as she looked to Sekhmet. "I am going to need more than my astral shape for what I am about to do."

Sekhmet was still nailed to the vibranium statue, the vibranium sword deep inside her abdomen. She was growling furiously as she tried to pull it away, now more than ever; some part of her mind had probably realized who had just entered the room.

"Get up, Diana," Bast commanded. "I am not strong enough to face my sister in a mortal body."

She opened her arms, a blue aura starting to glow around her. As if responding to her power, the Tesseract tossed in the middle of the temple glowed as well, floating to the center of the room.

"I will open a portal to Heliopolis using the Tesseract," Bast said, her power pouring through her, "but I will need you to push Sekhmet through it."

Diana was starting to get up, slowly, her body still hurting more than ever. She glanced towards Sekhmet, struggling to get the sword out, her roars terrifying.

"I-I am not sure I can," she admitted, shame filling her.

Bast – with Nanali's face – looked at her, the blue eyes glowing stronger.

"Your doubts do not matter, Diana," the Panther Goddess said, harshly. "Behind you stands a land filled with innocent people. Women, children, elderly. Your friends… Your lover. Cast aside your doubts and do what you must, like the heroes of old did."

She looked forward, to the Tesseract.

"You will do it, because you have to. Because if you do not, no one else will. You are an Amazon, fight like one."

Before Diana realized what she was doing, her body was standing up on its own. She was afraid, afraid of facing such a powerful being, afraid of failing. She was in pain and she was weak.

But she was also, like Bast had said, the only one between Wakanda and Sekhmet's wrath.

Diana of Themyscira was an Amazon and she would act like one.

"Hera, give me strength!" Diana shouted, starting to run towards Sekhmet.

The Cheetah Goddess finally ripped the sword off her, tossing it to the side, the horrific wound already starting to heal as she ran towards Diana.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Diana yelled, clashing head-on against Sekhmet, ignoring her pain and focusing on her sheer anger.

The resulting shockwave lifted all the dust in the room, but neither Diana nor Sekhmet cared, as they started to beat each other, fists against claws, both completely disregarding their own wounds as they gave all they had.

Behind Sekhmet, the blue Tesseract portal opened, as Bast used the Infinity Stone to link their realm to Heliopolis.

"Nanali's body cannot sustain this for much longer, Diana!" Bast yelled. "It is now or never!"

Peggy, Howard, Erik, Bucky, Dugan, the Howling Commandos… Steve. They were all counting on her.

Diana would not disappoint them.

Screaming, not even aware of where such power was coming from, Diana channeled every bit of her being into her arms.

And then she clashed her Bracelets of Submission against each other.

The red wave of pure energy hit Sekhmet directly against the chest, a barrage of unstoppable power that Diana did not even know she had. The blast lifted the Cheetah Goddess from the ground as if she were nothing, breaking everything in its way.

Finally sending Sekhmet through the portal, back to Heliopolis, far away from Earth.

The portal closed right after.

There was a minute of total silence.

"Well done, Diana," Bast congratulated a second later. Diana looked at her, breathing hard, and smiled. "You did it." Then the Panther Goddess looked at the fallen Tesseract. "I will make sure my sister is kept far away, you have my word."

Saying this, Bast gestured towards the Infinity Stone. The cube glowed for a moment and then it pulsed, strongly, the energy traveling towards the entire room.

"This will make it impossible for us to have a repeat of this unpleasant situation," Bast announced, sweat dropping from Nanali's face. "And now I must go tend to my family. We will speak again later."

Bast closed her eyes for a moment and then, when she opened them, they were not blue anymore; Nanali was back.

Diana saw the Queen's legs giving out a second later and dashed towards her, grabbing her before she could fall.

"Nanali!" Azzuri yelled out of nowhere, pushing a truly big piece of debris out of his way to reach his wife. Diana stepped back to allow the King to hold her.

Which was when she heard a voice.

Recognizing it, feeling her fury grow, Diana stood up and grabbed the Godkiller sword on the ground. Then, walking slowly, she followed the sound to a large piece of the ceiling that had fallen during the fight; with one hand, she lifted and tossed it aside.

Broken, bleeding and coughing under it, was Schmidt – Ares weakened, mortal form. The deformed man stared at her, eyes wide, and Diana could imagine what he was seeing: an Amazon, covered in red and golden blood, with burnt skin all over her body, deep gashes on her face, arms and legs and a sword dripping blood.

A vision of terror.

Diana grinned ferociously and lifted Godkiller; now it was over.

But the moment she lifted her sword, the Tesseract glowed powerfully. Before she could do anything, a blue light enveloped her, holding her in the spot; she could only watch, furious, as the Infinity Stone flew towards Schmidt.

And when it touched him, both of them disappeared into a blue vortex. Diana roared in fury when she was able to move once again.

* * *

"Nanali, my love," Azzuri whispered, crouching so he could hold his wife. His helmet was discarded carelessly. "Stay still."

Azzuri did not understand everything he just watched, but unless he was going mad, Nanali had been a vessel for the Panther Goddess. And through her, Bast had helped Diana to banish Sekhmet once again using the very weapon HYDRA used to invade Wakanda. The King never expected to see something like this, to be in the presence of three goddesses.

At the moment, however, all that was irrelevant. Because as soon as Azzuri looked at Nanali, he could see she was unwell.

Weak, bleeding, barely able to move, breathing heavily… Azzuri felt a true terror beginning to grow inside him.

"Nanali?" he asked, touching her face. Diana, maybe hearing the despair in his voice, approached.

His Queen smiled weakly and touched his face.

"We won," she whispered. "And you and our children are safe."

Azzuri simply nodded, not believing how tired her voice sounded.

"Diana?" Azzuri turned to her, frantically, seeing Nanali's eyes beginning to close.

The Amazon crouched and approached her head, listening to her breathing and heartbeat; frowning, she grabbed Nanali's vest and ripped it open, so she could look at her neck and chest.

Azzuri's eyes widened completely when he saw the purple marks spreading under her skin; purple marks he knew well.

"Is that…" he exhaled, surprised.

Nanali gave him a tiny smile.

"Lady Bast needed a strong connection to the Ancestral Plane to be able to share my body," she explained, saying the Wakandan name for the Astral Dimension. "The Heart-Shaped Herb is a good way to forge one." She waited a few seconds, clearly struggling to speak. "It is also a very good antidote against most poisons and a very convenient way to speed up my recovery."

Azzuri let out a relieved laugh, glancing at an also smiling Diana.

"Now shush…" Nanali asked, getting comfortable on his lap. "Let me dream of my ancestors. When I wake up, we will talk."

The Black Panther looked up to the sky and sent a prayer thanking Bast, not only for helping them, but also for saving his Queen. Then he looked at Diana and nodded, sending a silent prayer for the young goddess as well, one who had been instrumental in Wakanda's defense.

And then he laughed again. They had won.

* * *

 **Wakanda, River Tribe's Capital – May 1** **st** **, 1944**

Diana basked in the stunning view of the River Tribe Capital City. The Golden City was impressive, but in her opinion this city was much more beautiful, built over the many rivers of Wakanda, surrounded by waterfalls and forests.

The rebuilding of Wakanda's capital was already on its way. All the other Tribes had sent aid, in form of manpower, technology and resources – especially the Merchant Tribe –, but it would take time until the Golden City could shine under the sun again. The priority, of course, was security.

She did not understand half the words Howard said, but apparently the structure of the barrier around Wakanda was still functioning; what was broken and it would require extensive repair, was the generator that powered it. The cloaking device, at least, was already functioning, to maintain Wakanda's secret.

Golden City's people, however, the truly important part of any city, were saved and properly welcomed in the lands of the other Tribes until they could go back. Some could not evacuate the city in time, sadly, but most did and Diana had to focus on the good parts.

They had won the battle; now they had to deal with what was lost.

Through the cold lenses of a pure mathematical analysis, Diana considered this victory overwhelming. HYDRA had a massive army, brutal weapons and they managed to take them by surprise; and still, Wakanda had won, losing a very small number of people and a city that was already being rebuild.

From an emotional point of view, people had died, families were broken and there was nothing anyone could do to fix that.

After the battle, after they had arrested the few soldiers that had surrendered, the army had secured the bodies of their own people. Funeral rites started on that very day and were a constant occurrence since the end of the battle. In time, everyone that had fallen would rest inside the Necropolis, the highest honor Wakanda could give to their dead.

Diana felt a bit guilty in how happy she felt when she learned that all her friends and Steve were safe and unharmed. It felt wrong to celebrate that when so many had fallen, but she could not help herself; she already seen too much death and she did not want to part with someone close so soon.

She was sure Azzuri felt the same.

The King was no doubt mourning for his people, hurting for their losses, but at the same time he was relieved that his family – especially Nanali, that came so close to dying – was alright. Still, there was nothing they could do about that, but help those who had lost.

Nanali had not announced to anyone that she had eaten a Heart-Shaped Herb and Diana was not sure how she would. Tradition was a big thing in Wakanda; of course, being given permission by Bast herself might alleviate concerns. She wondered if Nanali would actually keep the gift or not.

With HYDRA defeated, Sekhmet banished and Wakanda safe, was time for them to go back. None of them were injured – Diana being the exception, but she healed extraordinarily fast, not leaving even a mark of what happened – and they had done what they could to help after the battle.

Unfortunately, the war was not over. HYDRA might have been defeated and they would need time to lick their wounds, but according to Colonel Phillips the Nazis were retaking territory on the Eastern Front, making use of HYDRA technology to defeat the Allied Forces and push their retreat; territories that the Howling Commandos have already fought for.

Schmidt was jealous of his weapons, but he was not above lending them to the Nazis so they could fight while his HYDRA grew back its heads.

So apparently, the Howling Commandos were about to face Nazis instead of HYDRA for the foreseeable future, until they could actually find other bases or even Schmidt himself, so Diana could finally kill him.

And Wakanda would be officially out of the war, as Bast commanded.

Diana still had not spoken with the goddess again, but she supposed that "later" might mean something different for a being that made her – someone who had already lived for thousands of years – appear young. She looked forward to talk to Bast again; Sekhmet… Not so much.

She heard footsteps approaching.

"I was looking for you," Steve said, leaning by her side as she watched the waterfalls. "We are about to leave."

"I was just seeing all this for one last time," Diana explained, smiling at him. "The circumstances that brought us here were not ideal, but I will miss Wakanda."

Steve looked right into her eyes.

"So will I."

Diana felt her heart beat faster when he said that; she was almost certain he meant something a bit less innocent than she did.

"Waterfalls, lakes and trees… I am already missing it," she said, kissing his cheek; she chuckled when he blushed and decided to have a bit more fun. "But I am sure you can tend to my wounds again, later… If you look very hard, I am certain you can find a scar."

Steve got even more flustered, but he kept his eyes on her. "I will very much enjoy that challenge."

They laughed and walked together to the hangar, where Aneka would take them out of Wakanda.

* * *

"There they are!" Howard exclaimed. "I thought you had escaped somewhere to play doctor again."

Peggy smacked his head when he said that, but the Howling Commandos just laughed. Almost at the same time they arrived, Azzuri and Nanali appeared, both their sons, Aneka and Ayo with them. They greeted everyone and the Howling Commandos, Peggy and Howard and Erik started to board the aircraft.

"Captain Rogers, Lady Diana," Azzuri said, approaching. He looked at both of them. "I have no words to thank you for what you have done for us."

"It was the right thing to do," Steve said. "You needed help, we helped."

Steve glanced at Diana, talking happily with Nanali and the kids, and then back at the king when he started to talk.

"It was more than that, Steve," Azzuri said, using his name. "You, your men and Lady Diana saved Wakanda. And my family. I am in your debt."

He had no idea what to answer to that, so he just nodded and shook hands with him. Diana approached, both kids in her arms.

"There is no debt, King Azzuri," Diana said, kissing T'Chaka and N'Jobu and putting them down. "Not to me, at least. This is what Amazons are supposed to do."

Azzuri smiled kindly at her. "Still, you will not go home empty handed. I have gifts." Saying this, the King pulled a bag from behind him and gave it to Steve. "The vibranium equipment you have used here belongs to you now. Also, Wakanda is open to you, at any time."

Then he looked at Diana. "For you, Lady Diana, I have this."

He lifted a truly beautiful vibranium sword, curved like a sickle and extremely sharp. Diana, apparently, knew that sword.

"This blade belonged to Bashenga, given to him by Sekhmet herself," Azzuri said.

"I cannot accept this!" Diana exclaimed.

"The sword fell into your hands when you needed a weapon to protect Wakanda. You used it against Sekhmet herself. It is already yours, milady."

Steve had not fully understood what this "Sekhmet" was yet and how Schmidt had brought it to Wakanda. Diana and Azzuri claimed it was a goddess, the very one that founded Wakanda, and after everything he saw it could very well be. Howard believed it was one of the abominations HYDRA created, probably a special one.

Well, it didn't really matter now.

Slowly, hesitantly, Diana accepted the sword. "I will keep it safe."

"May it keep you safe as well, Lady Diana," Azzuri said.

Steve watched said his goodbyes and waited as Diana said hers. She embraced the Queen, kissed the kids again, grabbed what seemed to be a vibranium chess set from Nanali to Erik and then, finally, they turned to enter the aircraft.

Only to be surprised by Bucky running towards them.

"I thought you were already inside," Steve said.

His friend looked back; following his eyes, he saw Ayo, coming from the same place Bucky did. Steve raised a single eyebrow.

"I was saying goodbye," Bucky said, strangely morose.

"Huh…" it seemed even Bucky wasn't immune to Wakanda's charms.

Sadly, it was time to go. The war needed to be fought, after all.

* * *

 **HYDRA Headquarters, Swiss Alps – May 1** **st** **, 1944**

Ares watched without being seen as Schmidt punched a doctor that had to re-break his legs to set the bone right. The Super-Soldier strength killed the man instantly, crushing his ribs, as Schmidt groaned in pain.

The Super-Soldier Serum was the only reason that the mortal escaped with his life after being almost crushed to death in the Necropolis. Still, being buried by tons of rocks would hurt even an enhanced human, as his broken legs proved.

It also made sure he healed fast; maybe too fast, considering the fact that the bone had already healed before it could be set straight, and now had to be re-broken.

Turning, Ares walked the corridors of the HYDRA base, passing by the people without being noticed, their minds incapable of seeing through his magic. He had almost annihilated this place after dropping Schmidt and the Tesseract, preventing his pawn from being prematurely killed by Diana.

That accursed Panther had played him. The battle fed him, no doubt, but Ares was expecting the death of a goddess and neither of them had died. His plan was all for nothing.

HYDRA has lost almost its entire army, a lot of money and pretty much all abominations. The Iron Cross Division was destroyed and Schmidt was injured. All in all, a terrible defeat for HYDRA and one that would force them to remain hidden until they could rebuild their forces.

Ares did not like losing, but he was patient. He would wait, watching Diana grow stronger. And when the time was right, he would go collect his new weapon, of that he had no doubt.

He smiled when he heard Schmidt yelling in pain and killing another doctor.

* * *

 **Wakanda, Middle of the Forest – May 1** **st** **, 1944**

Colonel Fritz Klaue was cursing the very existence of HYDRA, Wakanda and the entire world.

He was lost in the middle of a forest, trying to evade the many predators as he did his best to ignore the fact that he had _no fucking hand_ anymore!

Everything had gone to shit. He watched Koenig die, Madame HYDRA as well, and then his hand was cut off by that bitch of a queen with a vibranium disc. The army was defeated, Mjölnir was destroyed and HYDRA was almost literally fucked.

Not like he cared, Klaue was done with that. No, his deal was with Wakanda now.

It might not be that day, not tomorrow, not that year. Hell, it might not even be him. But one day, he would have his revenge on Wakanda, even if his descendants were the ones to bring it! One day, Wakanda would pay the price for his hand in vibranium and blood!

Breathing heavily, Klaue got up and started marching again, the roars of the panthers echoing in the distance.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 18** **th** **, 2010**

Diana followed Pepper down the stairs, holding her bowl of cereal as the redhead guided her to Tony's lab. It was almost noon and Tony was nowhere to be found; apparently, that happened a lot and the first place to look was the lab.

Had she known that, Diana would not have spent her morning watching TV and eating cereal.

Pepper pressed the password and opened the glass door, holding it so Diana could enter. And then, when she turned, she dropped her mug of coffee on the ground.

Tony was in the middle of the room, inside some kind of high-tech armor, while a bunch of robotic arms tried – without success – to get him out of it.

And unless Diana's godly vision was failing her, the armor was riddled with bullets.

All of them froze in place, Diana and Pepper staring speechless at Tony, as he stared right back.

"Let's face it," Tony finally said, looking at Pepper. "This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

* * *

 **Hey guys, as promised, the end of the Wakanda arc. I really hope you guys like it, I had a lot of fun writing this one.**

 **Now I'll update my other story, Avengers of Steel, which I'm already working on.**

 **Tell me what you think about it! I hope you are all doing great!**


	24. Chapter 24 - The Goddess and the Atheist

Disclaimer – All rights belong to Marvel and DC. I own nothing.

 **Chapter 24 – The Goddess and the Atheist**

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 18** **th** **, 2010**

The stunned silence inside the lab stretched itself, interrupted only by the mechanical sounds of the robotic arms trying to take the armor off Tony. Diana and Pepper could only stare, dumbfounded, as Tony struggled against the metal arms, clearly as shocked by the turn of events as they were, but hiding it better.

Diana was sure she would remain in silence for much longer if Pepper hadn't exclaimed:

"Are those bullet holes?!"

Bullet holes, shrapnel gashes, burnt traces of explosions… Diana could see all that, clear as day, and though she was dying of curiosity to know just what in Hera's name had happened – and just how exactly Tony managed to get into trouble between the time they got back from the fundraiser and next day's breakfast –, most of her attention wasn't on the damages the armor had suffered somehow, but on the armor itself.

Because unless Diana was very wrong, she was looking at an improved version of the armor Tony had used to escape the Ten Rings. Much less bulky, much flashier and apparently built with _much_ better equipment, but a similar armor nonetheless.

What was Tony doing now? Was this what he wanted to show her?

"No!" Tony answered, grabbing her attention back to him, then he stopped. "Well, yes, but they're just superficial damage, they barely scratched the paint. I'm completely fin– hey, buddy, if you break my arm I'm donating you!" He complained at the robotic arm trying to remove his armor. He looked back at them and smiled. "Like I said, completely fine."

And then the silence stretched itself again, this time even worse.

"I-I can't do this, not today. I just, I just can't," Pepper muttered, her face pale, turning around without looking at Tony a second time and leaving the lab.

Tony's expression just then broke Diana's heart.

"Let me help you out of that," she offered, after a few seconds, putting the cereal bowl on the table and jumping onto the platform Tony was on with ease. She glanced at the mysterious new armor. "And then we'll talk."

He just sighed, resigned, probably feeling very much like a turtle flipped on its back.

"Thanks, but you can't," Tony explained, barely containing his frustration, as she explored the red plates with her fingers. "You need the proper tools to–"

 _CLANG!_

Part of the plate covering his shoulder was sent flying to the other side of the lab, when Diana ripped it out with her bare hands.

"–Or you could just use brute force like an ogre, that works too," Tony added, his voice sounding exactly the same, but his eyes widened in amazement; amazement and intense curiosity, she noticed. "Just, you know, try not to destroy the entire thing. I know it needs repairing, but I'd rather not fabricate another from scratch."

Whatever that armor was made of, it was remarkably resistant, Diana found out as she tried to pry open the plates. Not Amazon steel quality, perhaps, but if the plate wasn't slightly damaged to begin with and if she wasn't perfectly positioned to reach the so called "chink in the armor", she knew it would have been much harder to do what she was trying to do.

She could break it eventually, of course, but so far no armor in Man's World had _ever_ offered proper resistance against her. And Diana included tanks and Soviet nuclear bunkers in that list.

"Sorry, I need space to reach the, umm, the thing keeping the parts together. A bolt?" she asked, digging between the plates, looking for the screw-like thing she knew it was there, somewhere.

"Yeah, pretty much… How are you doing this?!" Tony exclaimed when she started to loosen the bolt out.

"With my ogre-like hands, apparently," Diana answered, distractedly. "There, I think the machines can remove the rest now. The bolt was damaged, that is why it was stuck."

As she said this, she showed the chipped bolt to him – that smelled remarkably like gunpowder, so there was the reason for its current state – and jumped off the platform.

"Thank you for the assistance, Miss Prince," Jarvis said.

She stopped for a moment, surprised by the British voice of the AI she had been introduced to recently. Then she smiled; if only the real Jarvis could know that he was still serving the Stark family even in death, in the form of a disembodied voice. Diana didn't know if he would be offended or proud. Maybe both.

"You are welcome, Jarvis," Diana answered, watching with interest as the metal arms moved with purpose now, removing the armor piece by piece.

"Huh… I guess that tank really did scratch the suit," Tony mentioned, gazing at the damaged pieces, making Diana's eyebrows shoot up. He glanced at her. "How do you feel knowing your ogre hands are stronger than a tank shell, Fiona?"

Diana just stared.

"I would like that explanation now, Tony," she demanded, politely, but it was a demand nevertheless.

He sighed, stepping down from the platform a pulling a chair.

"Fair enough," Tony agreed, picking up a bottle of water from the mini fridge. He gulped the water with gusto, then gestured towards a free chair for her; Diana sat down, eyes glued to him. "Well, I didn't exactly plan to show it to you like this – much less to Pepper –, but… This is my newest project, the Mark III. Following, obviously, the Mark II, which had a bit of a 'flight in high-altitudes' problem and the Mark I, which was–"

"The armor you forged to escape the Ten Rings in Afghanistan," Diana finished for him.

"Noticed the similarities, huh? Though this one wasn't built with repurposed weapons and junk."

"I thought you were done making weapons?" Diana asked, trying to keep the accusation out of her tone.

"If you want to get technical, that's actually a suit of armor, so…"

"Tony!"

"I'm done building weapons," Tony said, this time without any mirth. "This suit, it isn't a new gift for the army, it isn't the latest Stark weapon on the market to end in the hands of terrorists. This is mine. My use alone."

"But why?" Diana asked, not understanding why he would go through such trouble. "Do you truly believe you need this for protection? Do you know something we do not?"

Tony actually chuckled.

"I didn't build this because I'm afraid of the Big Bad Ten Rings, I built this because someone needs to do something about all those weapons in their hands and no one is moving a finger," he said, serious. "Until I was kidnapped, I didn't even know _my_ weapons were out there, in the hands of very bad people, instead of being used to protect my country as I intended."

He typed fast and suddenly the screen was showing scenes of a city ruined by war. Buildings destroyed, dead people, soldiers attacking civilians… The thing that stood out the most, however, was the name branding the weapons: Stark Industries.

"This happened yesterday," Tony said, his eyes hard. "It's a place called Gulmira. I was told it was actually a nice town, before the Ten Rings got there." He turned to her. "My weapons did that. I told the world that I would stop building them and we did, but apparently someone shipped those we had in stock to Gulmira, right under my nose. And that," he pointed at the bombs exploding all around the town, "is the result. My responsibility."

Getting up, apparently too agitated to remain sitting down, Tony pointed at the red armor being repaired by the robotic arms.

"I don't know who approved those shipments, not yet, not for sure, but I'll find them and I _guarantee_ they'll regret ever doing that. And I'll make sure they'll never do it again. But the weapons already shipped to the terrorists, the ones they're already using? That suit is my way to fix that," Tony declared. "A way for me to track down every last one of those weapons and destroy them. And anyone else alongside them." He shook his head. "What else can I do? There is no global 911 to call and be done with it, I can't demand that the Army goes there and solve this, not without risking an actual war. _No one_ is doing _anything_ and innocent people are being killed with the weapons I built."

The furious expression on his face was something Diana would never forget.

"The Ten Rings is probably my greatest 'customer'," Tony continued after a moment, "but they are not the only ones. And I'll find all of them."

Diana said nothing in response. She just looked from Tony to the armor being repaired; the armor littered with bullets and burnt marks.

"Is that what you did last night?" she asked, finally.

Slowly, Tony nodded.

"After we got back, Jarvis warned me about what happened and I flew there immediately." He took a deep breath. "The Ten Rings is not going to bother those people anymore."

For a long minute, Diana stared deeply in Tony's eyes, trying to understand exactly how he was feeling. Guilt, that was obvious, but it was more than that. Tony Stark had finally realized that his actions had consequences and they were proportional to the kind of man he was; and he was, for good or ill, _extraordinary_. A true genius that would have attracted Athena's gaze back when the gods roamed the world. An inventor and an engineer so talented that he could have easily learned the trade from Hephaestus himself.

And a Patron of War that would have surely made Ares proud.

Tony Stark, much like Howard, had left his mark on the planet. Like the great heroes from the old days, Tony had in his hands the ability to shape the course of history. He would only have to decide what he wanted that history to be.

If his words right now meant anything, Tony had apparently made his choice.

"Good," Diana said, finally.

Whatever Tony expected her to say, it was not that.

"I did not see this coming, to be honest," he admitted, surprised. "I had a whole speech prepared, you know."

Diana gave him a tiny smile.

"What did you expect?" she asked.

"Well, you know, 'you're crazy and you're going to get yourself killed' or 'you can't just fly around bombing terrorists' or, my favorite, 'Tony, you're too handsome to risk your good looks like this!'"

She rolled her eyes.

"I _am_ worried," Diana affirmed. "Do not take my approval – whatever that might mean to you –as disregard for your safety. The very idea of you going against the Ten Rings puts a bad taste in my mouth… But when we see something wrong in the world, we can choose to do nothing or to do something." She breathed deeply. "You chose to do something."

Diana glanced at the armor.

"I have fought side by side with men and women in the bloodiest war this world has ever seen," Diana continued, thoughtful. "But they never wavered, they never ran, because they knew what needed to be done. I feared for them too, but I would have never asked them to turn back, not when innocent people needed them." There was a moment of silence, then she looked at him. "You are an intelligent man, Tony. I am sure you have taken all the necessary precautions. Right?"

This time, Tony nodded with certainty.

"They didn't even see what hit them," he said.

She raised a single eyebrow.

"And yet, they apparently hit you with an explosive shell."

He dismissed the fact as if it were meaningless. "Beginner's luck. And it barely scratched the suit."

That _was_ impressive, Diana admitted. Whatever Tony used to built that armor, it was incredible.

"Are you alright?" Diana asked, suddenly. "I can see you are fine, physically, but… Not all scars are left on the body."

Tony turned to her.

"You're asking if I'm okay with the fact that I killed a bunch of people?" he asked. "Because that wasn't exactly the first time, was it?"

"There is a difference in killing to defend yourself and killing in battle," Diana said, gently.

He actually looked thoughtful for a moment. "With the risk of sounding like a psychopath, I'm okay. Not gonna say I liked it, but those men made their choice. I'm not sorry for what I had to do."

Diana just nodded, unwilling to delve into that matter. Times and culture changed how people treated death. Diana herself was raised as a warrior and even though she never relished in the pain of others, she loved battle. It was in her blood. And she had fought _many_.

Despite the fact that Diana had _never_ killed or hurt someone who did not deserve that fate, she had lost count of how many foes she had cut down during her long life. Entire armies, criminal organizations, beings from other Realms, murderers, rapists… As much as she liked fighting, it brought her no joy to take their lives, but not once she regretted it. A battle was a battle and once a sword was drawn to cut down others, the one who wielded it should be prepared to die by the sword as well.

It was how she was raised, how the Amazons lived in the ancient times of the gods, and that way of life was passed on to her by her mother and her aunts. A different view for a different world, a world she lived in for thousands of years, only to leave so she could hunt and kill a God of War.

She found out that many in Man's World did not share that attitude.

During the War she hardly left the presence of hardened soldiers, so it took her a bit longer to notice that her outlook on battle was different from theirs. While Diana had a great respect for the law and would abide by it when possible – the Lasso of Hestia was a pretty good tool to force criminals to confess their crimes and freely offer proof of their own misdeeds to the authorities –, there were occasions when the law was used by the powerful to do harm or simply failed to protect the innocent. And there were many places in the world where there was simply none. Places where the strong ruled over the weak and the only way to deal with them was in the same way they dealt with those they considered inferior.

With the sword.

These people brought war upon innocents, so Diana treated them as soldiers. She accepted surrenders – even going as far as taking them to places where the law would punish them after a battle – and spared those she could, but when an Amazon met a warrior in combat it rarely ended well for her opponent.

It was exactly what Tony was doing. There wasn't anyone to defend those people from the Ten Rings, no dutiful army, no police, no judges, no law, so someone had to take matters into their own hands. But even then, Diana discovered that many were unwilling to do that, to shed blood, even if that blood belonged to monsters in human form.

Diana was glad that Tony understood that distinction. She wondered if Howard had anything to do with that.

"If that changes, I am willing to listen," Diana said, simply.

He stared at her for a few moments, then nodded. He turned to the lab's door and sighed. "I wished Pepper could understand that easily."

She touched his shoulder. "Give her a little time and she will. She was scared _for you_. You just got back from being kidnapped, remember? And now someone shot you. It can be a bit much."

Saying this, Diana walked closer to the suit of armor, enjoying the quick and coordinated movement of the metal arms, as they wielded the suit and restored the broken components.

"Now, how long will it take for this to be repaired?" Diana asked, grinning savagely. "I want to see what this armor can really do."

For some reason, Tony's face got a little pale.

* * *

 **London, Strategic Scientific Reserve Headquarters – May 4** **th** **, 1944**

Steve stared at the huge map on the table, studying every single aspect of it. Around him, SSR agents walked fast, the charged atmosphere in the war room making everybody work ten times harder; the presence of Colonel Phillips, standing by Steve, also helped in that aspect.

The situation wasn't good.

The missions the Howling Commandos accomplished on the Eastern Front had given them some well-spent time to breathe, allowing the Red Army to advance and hold some positions. It also uncovered the horrors in the Death Camps, some of which they managed to shut down. For a while, it looked they would actually be able to end the war sooner.

Until HYDRA started to arm the Nazis with their advanced weapons.

Schmidt had betrayed Hitler and announced to the world that he fully intended to treat Germany as an enemy as well, but that did not stop him from using the Nazis as cannon fodder while he licked his wounds from the battle in Wakanda; and Hitler was not above accepting gifts from declared enemies, not if they could help his situation in the war.

With far more advanced weapons, the Nazis managed to force the Red Army to retreat. The positions they were holding previously were lost, their troops suffered heavy losses and their supply chains were broken. Almost all the territory the Allies had taken on the Eastern Front was lost.

The only good thing Steve could say about this is that the Death Camps hadn't been re-opened. At least not yet.

"What kind of equipment are we dealing with here, sir?" Steve asked.

The Colonel passed him list.

"Agent Carter's spies tell us that it's HYDRA usual weaponry," he grumbled. "Energy rifles, some turrets, armor, a few vehicles. No city destroyers or anything like that, but in enough quantity to overpower our less advanced weapons. The Red Army had no way to hold them and were forced to retreat."

Most troops didn't. To this date, the Howling Commandos were the only unity that had accumulated victories over HYDRA; other troops didn't have highly-skilled and experienced soldiers, top-notch information to prepared themselves, specialized equipment made by Howard Stark himself.

And Captain America and Wonder Woman as their vanguard.

The weapons Schmidt and Zola created were, simply put, too deadly. Decades, if not centuries, ahead of anything they could develop and most Allied troops had to make do against that with bullets and a lot of courage. Courage that was certainly put to a test when a brother-in-arms right at your side was completely disintegrated in a single shot.

If the SSR and the Howling Commandos didn't act, they could very well lose the war fast.

"No signs of any of those abominations," Colonel Phillips continued. "Just weapons."

"Most of them died in Wakanda," Steve mentioned, still reading the list. "And we shut down their labs. We probably won't see an army like that again, though we might still deal with them eventually."

He put the list down, only to find Colonel Phillips staring at him.

"What about that other kind of biological terror you found in Wakanda?" he asked. "The one strong enough to hurt Miss Prince, if the reports are to be believed."

Steve felt his chest tightening when the memories of that came rushing back into his mind. He would never forget the sight of Diana covered in cuts, blood and bruises, every inch of her skin charred and blistered, some of the claw marks going bone-deep.

For the first time since he met her, Steve was afraid of the possibility of actually losing Diana in the war, something that had never truly occurred to him before.

Diana could dodge and deflect bullets, kick tanks around, overpower any and all enemy soldiers with no difficulty whatsoever. Nothing, not even those Blue Abominations, were remotely strong enough to face her; she had even survived a direct blast of a city destroyer using only her bracelets!

And yet, the fight against the being they called Sekhmet had nearly cost Diana her life. Seeing her hurt like that made Steve finally understand that Diana was not invincible. And it made him afraid of what else they might face in that war against HYDRA.

To her credit – and his eternal relief – Diana had an incredibly high pain tolerance, to the point where she walked and talked without a care in the world even with all those injuries, and she healed _very_ fast from those wounds. Steve could actually see the wounds closing themselves before his eyes, the blood stopping to flow, the skin becoming smooth again, the blisters and burnt skin going back to their original color until after an hour or so there was not even a mark left on her body.

Something that amused her greatly, if her insistence for Steve to search every inch of her body for any hidden wound meant anything. Steve was proud to say that he remained entirely professional for the first three times Diana demanded "treatment".

Willing his blush away, Steve looked at Colonel Phillips.

"If anything, the reports underestimated the severity of the situation, sir," Steve said, all happy memories about the incident vanishing as he recalled his first sight of Diana after the battle. "Whatever that being HYDRA brought forth was, it was _powerful_. And it very nearly killed Diana."

Colonel Phillips barely reacted, but he could see the man was startled. Every single member of the Howling Commandos, Howard and Peggy had almost the same expression when they saw Diana limping back to the ruins of the battlefield, alongside King Azzuri and Queen Nanali, also both hurt and deeply tired. Poor Erik almost fainted.

They all knew what Diana could do. How could someone that powerful get hurt so badly? Worse still, just how powerful was that being Diana faced? Were there others like that? Could it actually be a goddess, like Diana and the Wakandans said?

"What was that thing, Captain?" Colonel Phillips finally asked. "The reports said remarkably little."

"Diana called her a goddess," Steve started, knowing very well how that would go, "the Cheetah Goddess Sekhmet that the Wakandans worshipped once upon a time." Before Colonel Phillips could open his mouth, Steve rushed: "I know, sir, I know. Diana has her own faith and all that. But the being _existed._ And Wakanda knew about it. Whatever it is, goddess, monster or some kind of biological weapon, Sekhmet was very much real and powerful enough to hurt Diana."

Colonel Phillips said nothing, he just kept staring. Steve sighed.

"I don't know how HYDRA found or brought Sekhmet to Wakanda," Steve continued, "but they did. And if Diana hadn't nearly died defeating her, I supposed all of us would've died in Wakanda, sir."

The silent stare continued for almost a minute, then Colonel Phillips let out a curse that would've made a sailor blush.

"Unbelievable… Remember when this war was about us trying to punch Hitler in the face?" Colonel Phillips said, leaning over the table. "I miss those times."

"Me too, sir, me too," Steve wholeheartedly agreed.

"Does HYDRA have more of that 'Sekhmet' thing?" he asked, as if the question itself tasted bad in his mouth.

"I don't think so, sir," Steve said, actually glad his sanity wasn't being questioned.

Then again, Colonel Phillips was nothing if not practical. Goddess or not, Sekhmet was a weapon of war. It mattered little how they called it, and a lot more how they could kill it and others like it if there was need.

"What about that 'Ares' thing Diana keeps raving about?" Colonel Phillips questioned. "Could it be the same thing? Another of those biological weapons… beings… things?"

Not for the first time since he saw Diana's state and heard about her battle he wondered about that. Steve didn't believe when Diana told him about Ares' existence, when she said he was the one behind the war. He was certain it was only her faith. Much like the insistence many had in blaming the Devil for everything, even when there were very real – very _human_ – people to blame.

But Sekhmet, as Steve stated, existed. It was a physical threat to them, an enemy to be fought and defeated. Could Ares be the same? Could Diana's gods actually exist as more than just myths?

"Diana is certain Ares is Schmidt," Steve began, hesitantly, "or that he is inhabiting his body… Or he is a human avatar of the God of War, greatly weakened since the 'War of the Gods'." He looked apologetically at Colonel Phillips. "I'm not sure even she knows for certain, sir, but she is not worried about fighting him. If anything, I'd say she is too eager."

Colonel Phillips said nothing for a while.

"What's Stark take on this?" he asked.

Steve chuckled. "Ancient Super-Soldier Serum experiment of some kind gone wrong. Maybe the Wakandans first trial to produce Super-Soldiers, then preserved in ice inside their temple in secret, later discovered by HYDRA. Probably some attempt to splice animal genes into humans to contain the harmful mutations and enhance power. Possibly something to do with the Heart-Shaped Herb only found in Wakanda and with a diet rich in vibranium." He smiled. "Diana smacked him in the head when he said that."

Colonel Phillips simply shook his head, slowly.

"I don't know which of them is more absurd, to be honest," he complained. "The idea of gods walking amongst us or all that… gibberish Stark is saying."

"Neither do I, sir," Steve agreed.

"I am actually more worried about that portal than anything else," Colonel Phillips said, suddenly. "The kind of advantage Schmidt would gain in this war with the ability to be wherever he wants, when he wants, would make him invincible."

Something that also worried Steve, a lot. An ability that, according to Diana's suspicions, came from the Tesseract; or, as she called it, one of the Six Infinity Stones that ruled the universe, most likely the Space Stone. As with her belief in the gods, Steve didn't argue semantics with her. The Tesseract, "Infinity Stone" or simply a powerful artifact, existed and was being used by Schmidt to produce weapons.

In this case, Howard actually agreed with her; minus, of course, the "Infinity Stone" part. That, in his opinion, was just a myth created to explain the situation, but the energy readings were similar to the weapons produced by the Tesseract, so they were indeed linked.

"Given the fact that Schmidt used that only in Wakanda," Steve started, "I'd say this technology is new and probably unreliable, sir. We don't know the risks involved, nor the cost. But we do know Schmidt isn't opening portals all over the world to move his troops. Most likely because he can't."

"And he doesn't exactly have troops to move around right now, not since the battle in Wakanda," Colonel Phillips finished, thoughtful. "Still, I would like to deal with the Nazis before Schmidt can build another army and we are forced to put that theory to a test."

Steve could agree with that.

There was a moment of silence while both of them contemplated what was said, thinking about their current situation. Then Steve decided to ask something.

"Sir, about the Wakanda reports," he started, slowly, "are they–"

"Destroyed right after I read them," Colonel Phillips stated. "The whole thing was declared confidential, by King Azzuri's request. No one but me and those involved in the mission read it." He sighed. "The last thing we need right now are wild tales about a Wonderland in the middle of Africa."

That was true. A place as rich and advanced as Wakanda, full of vibranium, would attract all sorts of unwanted attention, even from the Allied Forces. The war was going bad enough without greedy people trying to send expeditions – or even armies – to Wakanda. It was the right thing, for everybody, to keep their secret.

"Thank you, sir," Steve said.

"It wasn't a favor, it was a tactical decision," Colonel Phillips guaranteed. He shuffled through some papers, distracted. "Now, I have another confidential document right here and I'd like your take on it, Captain."

"What is this, sir?" Steve asked, curious, accepting the file.

"Hopefully something that will help us retake a good portion of Europe," Colonel Phillips said. "And if we are very lucky, something that will help someone, somewhere, to punch Hitler in the face."

Steve glanced at the file, reading the first words on the top: Operation Overlord.

The Howling Commandos would have busy times in front of them, there was no doubt about that.

* * *

 **Stark's Mansion, Malibu, California – April 18** **th** **, 2010**

As soon as Jarvis had repaired the very last component of the suit, Diana practically pushed him towards it, urging Tony to put it on and show her what it could do.

Tony had to admit that her enthusiasm was endearing; and it made him strangely happy.

He had never needed anyone's approval to do anything, in fact he actually liked to go against expectations. But Tony also had never been completely alone before, no matter what he thought back then. Someone usually had his back – either because they agreed with what he was doing or because they would profit from it – and he hadn't realized that the support felt nice until there was none.

The decision to stop making weapons turned almost everyone against him. His company, the public, the Army, Stane, Rhodey… How would they react if they knew what he was building right now? A piece of technology that could – and very likely would – change the world.

And one that he had no intention of sharing with none of them.

Well, Rhodey's reaction when Tony crossed paths with his pilots during the flight to Gulmira went better than he expected, that was true, even after the unfortunate accident where one of the pilots crashed against him and he had to manually open the guy's parachute before he fell to his death. But it probably wouldn't last. Not when Tony stood by his decision to not sell this tech to anyone, not even the US Forces. When they saw what his suit could do, everyone would want one.

That suit would send them all in a frenzy and Tony would not budge; how many "friends" would he have then? For one reason or another, they would walk away. Rhodey because he would refuse to do the Army's bidding and his ultimate loyalty was with the Armed Forces. Stane because he would refuse to sell. Pepper because he would refuse to close his eyes to all the destruction _his_ weapons caused and she cared about him too much to see him get shot.

Deep down, Tony already expected that. He was one of the smartest men in the world, after all. But not even with all his intelligence he could predict Diana Prince's existence and acceptance and there she was, the only one by his side.

Tony would never say it out loud, but he hoped she wouldn't leave too.

Dum-E and U assembled the suit pieces on him, the mechanical arms working fast and surprisingly well; there wasn't a single accident, so that meant they were learning, for once. And when the helmet finally closed and the HUD lit on, Tony jumped down from the platform and turned to Diana in all his glory.

He was quite proud of himself by the awed look on her face. She seemed like a tough crowd.

"This is incredible," Diana whispered, walking around him, inspecting the suit. She touched the metal. "What is this made of?"

"It's a gold-titanium alloy, a modified version of the one used to make satellites," Tony explained. "Highly resistant and it won't freeze and drop me to my death when I fly too high."

Diana stared at him for a moment, a tiny smile on her face. "I sense there is a story there."

"Flight tests, you know how it is. Sometimes you don't get off ground, sometimes you do, but go right back to it too fast. The usual stuff."

She chuckled.

"Flew too close to the sun, Icarus?" Diana asked, arching an eyebrow. "Good thing you learned your lesson and fixed it, then. Your father dropped me from a plane once, right on top of Auschwitz," Diana told him as if she was talking about the weather, tapping the gold-titanium alloy of his helmet for some reason. "I had to throw away my parachute to fall faster, to avoid the unforeseen turrets shooting against us." She glanced at him, raising her eyebrow again. "I leveled an entire building with my own body when I fell. I do not recommend it."

Tony's jaw was agape as he stared back at Diana. Just how strong was her? And Auschwitz? He couldn't remember her name in any of the books he read about it. Shouldn't that "insignificant detail" be remembered by, well, _everybody_?

His suspicions about his father erasing history to protect Diana were pretty much confirmed by that point.

"Which begs the question," Diana continued, unaware of his shock, "what else does this armor have to keep you safe? Besides the resistant alloy." She touched the shoulder previously damaged. "You mentioned you were shot by a tank. The alloy would protect you from the blast and the shrapnel, but shouldn't the impact against the armor crush your bones? There is only so much an armor can protect you from."

Tony was pleasantly surprised by her question.

"Right you are. And I do have more than just a strong alloy to protect me. You heard about vibranium, right? I mean, there's no way you spent that much time with Captain America and my father for the subject never to come up." She smiled mysteriously and nodded; he sensed a story there as well. Something to ask about later. "Well, that metal has some very interesting properties, one of them is that it can absorb and redirect kinetic energy."

She nodded again, paying close attention to his explanation.

"Well, I don't have any vibranium. My father made sure to use all we had to build a frisbee. But at least he took notes of it," Tony said. "Based on his studies on vibranium, I was able to develop new and improved inertial dampeners and integrate them in my suit. They counter and redirect any excessive force that might hit me, preserving the integrity of the suit as well as my own, of course. So the suit ends up taking the brunt of all my hits, even the ones that would turn me into mashed potatoes inside it."

Tony was happy to see his crowd was properly impressed by the explanation.

"This is amazing!" Diana exclaimed. "Why isn't this technology used everywhere? It would save so many lives."

"Time and money." Tony shrugged. "It still costs _a lot_ to develop it and it takes time to properly integrate it to whatever device you want to use it. Plus, it takes quite a bit of energy to make it work. I have this," he said, tapping the arc reactor on his chest, "so that's covered, but a car, for example, would need a hell of a lot more energy than a battery or fuel could provide. It just wouldn't work."

But there it was, something he could look into in the future. Stark Industries could actually save lives for once. Beyond the lives of soldiers fighting wars, of course.

"My bracelets can do something similar," Diana mentioned, snapping his attention back to the conversation. She was studding the remarkably well-crafted silver bracelets on her wrists, something Tony thought was simply a fashion statement; apparently he was wrong. "I wonder if the principle used is the same, just achieved by different methods."

Tony had a hard time believing those bracelets could have inertial dampeners installed anywhere, but he told Jarvis to analyze them nevertheless. The HUD mapped all the little details of Diana's bracelets, displaying them on the side of his screen, but Tony's attention was focused on one simply detail.

 _Material Composition: unknown._

His helmet opened suddenly and he approached her, looking closely at the bracelets.

"What _are_ those made of?" Tony asked, delicately grabbing her arms and touching the metal.

That had never happened before. Jarvis had never failed to identify something; the scanners he built and the immense database Jarvis had access to would never allow that. And yet, there it was, right in front of him: a material he had never seen before.

"Amazon steel," Diana answered, simply, allowing him to keep holding her wrists. "I am not the best one to explain it, since I never took much of an interest in smiting, but it is a special alloy imbued with magic. Hephaestus himself taught this to the Amazons."

 _Of course_ it was magic, Tony thought, sighing. He supposed his suit would be considered magic too if a layman got their hands on it. He was pretty sure people would've burned him to death if he was born a few centuries before.

His contempt for the answer was not as subtle as he though, because Diana frowned, annoyed, and pushed her arms back.

"Do not even start with me, _Stark_ ," Diana complained, pretty much spitting his family name; he probably should blame his father for that. "I told you I would give you evidence and I will. I already had enough of those looks from Howard."

It was his father's fault, then.

"Alright, alright," Tony said, raising his hands. He had no idea exactly _how_ she could provide evidence of magic, but he was eager to see her try. "I'll hold the questions until then."

"Good!" she exclaimed. "Now, what else can this armor do? You mentioned flying?"

Maybe it was the excitement on Diana's voice, maybe it was the childlike glee in her eyes, but Tony suddenly felt eager to demonstrate his suit's flying capabilities.

Diana would probably understand just how _cool_ it felt to challenge gravity like that.

Closing his visor, Tony stepped back and opened both arms. And with his now practiced ease, he activated the repulsors, the powerful sound taking the entire lab. Slowly, completely under control, the Mark III started to float, the wind generated by the repulsors blasting Diana's hair away, but she didn't seem to mind.

On the contrary, she looked as excited as Tony; he was right, Diana would probably love to go for a flight test, even after he told her about his "Icarus' moment".

He turned the repulsors off and landed, the heavy suit echoing with a metallic thud.

"You _have_ to let me try this sometime!" Diana exhaled, staring marveled at the suit.

"And here I thought flying was child's play for a goddess," Tony taunted.

She sighed. "Me too. Though it is harder than I could have imagined. I still am not capable of flying for long distances or for a long period of time."

That was _not_ the answer Tony was expecting, that was for sure.

He opened his mouth, his lungs full of air, ready to shoot questions like a machine gun. Then he thought again.

"Show me," Tony said, simply.

Diana grinned.

"Only if you show me the big guns too."

Tony was proud of himself to be able to bite his tongue and not say anything that would definitely result in a smack.

* * *

"Jarvis, bring up the dummies," Tony ordered, turning to the three metal circles at the end of the garage. As he asked, the three circles opened, ejecting three dummies made of some gelatinous substance. He glanced at her. "Ballistic gelatin. It mimics the properties of human's muscle tissues."

Diana knew that, but she was still compelled to poke them, just to make sure. It seemed remarkably accurate.

"Femoral artery, heart, aorta and between the eyes," Tony announced while Diana was still poking the cheeks of the dummy in the middle.

Before she had the chance to retreat, two hidden compartments right above Tony's shoulders opened, revealing two mini-guns with six shots each. And with Diana still there, he fired.

Diana was startled for a moment. She could, obviously, dodge or even deflect the shots; what startled her, however, was the fact that she _did not_ _need_ to. The shots were fired with speed and extreme accuracy, hitting all three dummies at the same time in all the places Tony said out loud, not even coming close to hit her.

Excellent for hostage situations, Diana realized, amazed all over again.

"Incredible," she breathed, eyes glowing, checking the 'wounds' on the dummies. Any one of them would no doubt fell a man, clad in bulletproof vests and helmets or not.

"Right?" Tony said and she could hear the pride in his voice. He could have sworn not to make any more weapons, but he was still a craftsman and craftsmen took pride in their creations, lethal or not.

At least this one would be used for good.

"What else?" Diana asked, stepping back to give Tony a clear shot.

She could almost see the smile behind the visor. Tony lifted a single hand and his gauntlet glowed, singing as if charging power; then he fired. The blast of energy passed in front of Diana, hitting the dummy's center, blowing it up with enough power to send the ballistic gelatin all over the wall behind it. Not hesitating, Tony lifted the other hand and blasted the other dummy, his other gauntlet already charged for a third shot against the last dummy.

Seconds. That was all it took for Tony, aided by the armor he created from scratch, to utterly destroy three dummies made to resemble a man's body. After, of course, using the mini-guns he had above his shoulders to hit their vital points without so much as lifting a hand, all at the same time. Twelve shots, fired simultaneously with perfect precision; twelve men, dead before they could even react, if this was a true battle.

Diana had seen some of what his first armor was capable of, when they crossed paths during his escape, but this was on a whole other level. If she had any doubts that this new weapon could change the power balance in the world, then they were gone after this short demonstration.

She was glad Tony had decided not to share this new technology. In the wrong hands, disaster would certainly follow.

"I still have these," Tony said, lifting his arms to show her a small missile, previously concealed in his forearms. "Tank buster missiles. I would show you what they can do, but even if I survive the entire house collapsing on top of us, Pepper will kill me later anyway, so let's save this one for another day."

Diana smiled. "Wise choice." She turned and walked to him, slowly. "You created an incredible weapon, Tony, worthy of the ancient forges of the Cyclops that crafted the weapons Zeus, Poseidon and Hades used to defeat the Titans." She stopped right in front of him. "But the worth of a weapon is measured by the one who wields it."

There was a moment of silence. Then Tony's visor opened to reveal his raised eyebrows.

"Did you see what I just did?" he exclaimed. "Because that was beyond impressive."

She rolled her eyes. "You hit a few dummies a few meters away. With Jarvis help, I might add." Diana glanced at the gelatin covering the wall. "You hit them hard, I will grant you that, but a trained warrior with a stick can defeat an untrained one carrying a war hammer."

It was Tony's turn to roll his eyes. "That'd have to be one mighty stick."

"You doubt such 'stick' will be made?" Diana asked. "It might not be today or tomorrow, but if you plan to use this armor in battle you have to prepare yourself for the eventuality of someone fighting back." Diana stared right inside his eyes, no trace of mirth on her face anymore. "And believe it or not, there are some out there already capable of hurting you even inside this shell."

* * *

It should not be possible, Tony knew. There he was, fully clad in his suit, taller and broader than any man, safe inside a powerful weapon of war. And there _she_ was, Diana Prince, wearing a ridiculous Captain America pajama pants and an old Pluto shirt for some reason.

Cute little shields and a yellow dog against a weapon of war that could potentially change the military balance of the entire world.

It _shouldn't_ be possible, but when Diana said that, Tony actually was intimidated.

"What you are trying to do is commendable," Diana continued, "but it will amount to nothing if you are dead." She hesitated for a moment. "I would rather see you live a long, happy life, instead." Then she smiled, cutely. "I will teach you how to fight, Tony Stark, like my aunt taught me."

Wait, what?

"You have one of the greatest weapons ever created," Diana went on, "time to master it."

Saying that, Diana stepped back and raised her fists.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Tony exclaimed, overwhelmed. "When did I agree to any of this?"

This was madness. Not only all this talk about training, as if he didn't know every single inch of his own suit, but the fact that Diana wanted to face that same suit with nothing but her own hands. Strong she might be, but did she really think she wouldn't end up hurt?

"You want proof of my godhood, yes?" Diana asked, already knowing the answer. "Something 'truly mythological', something that will leave no doubts as to what I truly am. I can provide that."

"How?" Tony asked, immediately.

"As I told you, I have an expedition in mind. South Africa. I am looking for something there, something that will hopefully prove everything I said was true." She looked at him. "But it will be dangerous. And I will not take you if I am not certain you can protect yourself."

Tony's interest – and curiosity – was picked. What could Diana possibly find in South Africa to prove everything she said was real? Gods and monsters and who knows what else? It would have to be something tangible, something directly connected to the stories he considered myths and she was certain to be true, something that would leave no doubt as to what Diana really was.

But what? Was it really possible that such proof existed?

"You're expecting a fight?" Tony asked.

"I hope not," Diana answered. "But I would be a fool if I was not prepared for one." She raised a single eyebrow. "So? What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Hear some tips about fighting and then, if she was telling the truth, be presented with something that would change his views of how the universe worked? That wasn't even a real question.

"I believe we have a deal," Tony agreed.

"Good! Come on, then, let us see what you can do beyond shooting things. Hit me!"

And then she raised her hands again and Tony was, once more, facing a small, unarmed woman, while clad in a suit that could very well tear down an entire army by itself. A woman still dressed in her pajamas, with Captain America shields on her pants and a faded Pluto on her shirt.

That didn't feel right. At all.

"Look, I know you're strong, but you'll end up hurt if–"

 _CLANG!_

Tony had only a split second to close his helmet before she dashed forward and headbutted him right in the golden mask. And despite the heavy weight of the suit, despite the gold-titanium alloy that could deflect bullets as if they were nothing, despite the top-notch inertial dampeners he created with his own hands… Despite all that, Tony was launched back, flying like a ragdoll only to crash heavily against the ground.

The HUD blinked for a moment, assessing the status of the suit, but Tony hardly paid any attention. The surprise wouldn't allow him to; because when he looked at Diana's face, he couldn't see a single mark. Not a bruise, not a cut, not even a sign that she had just _headbutted_ his suit and thrown him away.

And because his helmet, in turn, was now sporting a dent. So much for his fear of hurting _her_.

"Sir, it appears that Miss Prince's head is considerably harder than the gold-titanium alloy of the suit," Jarvis remarked, unhelpfully.

"Duly noted," Tony replied, sarcastically.

"Get up, put your guard up and fight!" Diana commanded, jumping from one leg to the other like a professional kickboxer, unable to hide her good mood. " _The_ Happy Hogan works for you. Have you learned nothing from him?"

What was the deal with Happy now? No time to think about that, not when a so-called goddess wanted to punch him and was very much capable of doing so _and_ damaging his suit instead of hurting herself, to his still on-going surprise. Getting up, Tony did as Diana said and raised his arms, ready to fight back.

He found out that knowing Diana was as resilient as his suit and building the will to attack a woman with fists of metal were two _very_ different things. He hesitated; it was all it took for him to get hit again.

Diana jabbed his mask twice, her arms moving so fast that Tony didn't have the chance to block, each punch landing with the strength of a hammer. His head whipped back, making him dizzy, and he retaliated with a blind punch that Diana easily dodged.

Only to strike back with an uppercut that made Tony leave the ground.

"Get up," Diana barked like a drill sergeant, as Tony pulled himself back up again. "Your guard is terrible. Cover your chin, separate your feet, eyes on me!" Without even realizing, Tony did as she told, following her commands. "Good! Quick punches, now."

So he did. One, two, fast jabs. His gauntlets landed against Diana's guard – probably because she wished them to – and she blocked them easily, her bare hands colliding against the cold metal without any fear of getting hurt. He punched again, twice, quickly, and dodged when she retaliated in kind.

She grinned when he dodged; then kicked his chest, throwing him on his back.

"I thought this was a boxing match," he complained, annoyed, getting up for the third time.

"Who gave you that idea?" Diana asked, knowing very well 'who' by the smile on her face.

If that was how she wanted to play, well, then he would play too.

"Jarvis, set the repulsors to stun!" Tony ordered and raised both hands.

His gauntlets glowed and then fired, the energy beams screeching when he shot.

Only to be deflected right back at him, when Diana crossed her arms over her chest and blocked them with her bracelets. The very same bracelets she said were made of Amazon steel, a magic imbued metal that had some of the properties of his inertial dampeners.

Well, _now_ he believed the inertial dampeners part, at least. The repulsors' energy beams collided right against his chest, throwing him on his back _again._

This was getting tiresome. And he was starting to get mad.

"You showed me what the weapon can do," Diana said as he pulled himself back up. "Now show me what the man can do. Do not rely solely on the armor's abilities, rely on yourself."

Awesome advice, really. If only it came with a set of instructions, it would be perfect. Unless…

Igniting his thrusters, Tony flew against Diana, all thoughts of holding back gone from his mind; she obviously didn't need the edge. It was clear by now that conventional combat wouldn't take him anywhere here. She was much more experienced on that than he was and the suit was not built for that kind of fight.

Tony crashed against Diana with a thunderous noise, but not even then she budged, her smaller body more than a match for the strength of the suit. She held his arms, struggling against him for a moment, eyes widening in surprise.

"How much can you lift with this armor?" Diana asked, excitedly, as Tony's suit screeched with the effort to push her arms.

"About 50 tons, more or less," Tony grunted, unable to force her back even an inch, the effort burning his muscles even inside the suit. "I have yet to really test it."

How was she so damn strong?! What were her muscles made of? He could see she was, maybe for the first time, using a bit of her strength. But he also could tell that she was far from using all of it; how much could _she_ lift?

No time to wonder, not when he had a plan to execute. Hands still joined, neither of them ever stopping to push, Tony unleashed his suits flares; the small circular compartments inside his legs opened, spinning fast as it released the red flares made to protect him against missiles.

They also worked pretty well as a distraction.

Diana was not harmed by the heat of the flares – even though her clothes got a little bit charred – but the glow and their sudden appearance did surprise her; enough for Tony to be able to fire his repulsors at full strength and fly above her. At the same time, the mini-guns over his shoulders started to shoot at Diana, Jarvis aiming at non-vital points.

He shouldn't even have bothered, because Diana simply dodged and deflected the shots with her bracelets as if they were moving in slow-motion. But they were not meant to hit her, they were meant as a distraction.

Just to give him enough time to aim at the nearby car, the 1967 Shelby Cobra he smashed falling through the ceiling, and fired his repulsors. Diana had just deflected the last shot from his mini-gun when the 1967 Shelby Cobra was sent flying on her direction, crashing head-on against her.

Or, more accurately, stopping before crashing against her, when Diana grabbed the car midair as if it were a toy.

And while her arms were busy, Tony lifted both of his and revealed the tank-buster missiles under his gauntlets, pointing at Diana.

"Okay, Fiona, game-over," Tony said, panting with the effort. "Stay right where you are or we both go up in flames."

* * *

Diana said nothing for a moment, simply contemplating the situation; then she chuckled. The gall! Starks' insolence at its finest, she thought to herself in good humor. She let the car go, allowing it to fall heavily back to the ground; she couldn't help but to notice that Tony winced when she did so. Well, the current state of the car was _not_ her fault.

"Not bad," Diana congratulated, smiling. "Not bad at all. You used that Stark head of yours, finally."

She meant every word. It was a very nice strategy, thought in the heat of battle. As impressive as his technological armor was, without the mind that built it, its effectiveness was limited. It was good to see that Tony had something Howard never did.

A warrior's spirit. He might be ready for her little expedition.

Tony sighed and let his arms fall back, covering the tank-busters and opening his visor; he was sweating.

"Though you have to be careful," Diana continued, walking to him. "What would you have done if I had called your bluff?"

"Bluff? I would have fired and killed us all, of course," Tony answered, immediately. "If I'm not winning, no one should."

Diana rolled her eyes, not believing it for a second, but she continued that line of thought.

"All you would have cost me is time to dig my way out. You, however, would probably get very hurt," she pointed out. Diana stared seriously at him. "If you choose to go with me on this expedition, we may cross paths with all manner of beings, both mortal and immortal. Some might be hostile. Bullets and bombs might not be enough, not by themselves. I will protect you with all my power, but you must be able to protect yourself and you must know that you are not dealing with men anymore." She looked around, at the destroyed car and the marks of battle around the lab. "I believe you have proved yourself capable of that."

Tony held her stare for a moment, taking her words with the seriousness he should. Then he nodded.

"Deal. Let's go."

Wait, what?

Sensing her confusion, Tony looked at her.

"You promised me proof that gods are real, I'm not missing that for anything in the world," he said, shrugging. Tony lifted one finger and began counting. "Think before blowing things up, realizing that my suit might not be on the top of the food chain out there and keep in mind that we might find some pretty strong opposition. What else is there to learn? I say we go now."

"Now?!" Diana exclaimed.

"Why not? I can have my private jet ready in an hour, we can be there by the end of the day." He glanced at her. "What were you doing, anyway? Eating cereal and watching TV? Doesn't seem a very godly thing to do, if you ask me."

What did he know about it, anyway? She was a goddess, everything she did was, by definition, 'godly'.

"I was actually studying the ramifications of our meeting last night," Diana explained, pushing the broken car back to where it was before Tony launched it against her. She stopped and looked at him, barely able to keep the annoyance off her face. "Can you imagine the things they are saying after some worthless paparazzi filmed us leaving together? They showed diagrams to illustrate to the viewers how three people could _fit_ together."

"Three?" Tony asked, puzzled.

"You and I... And Pepper."

Tony's smile could almost split his face.

"I'm not even gonna lie, this is very healthy for my ego."

"We can make it unhealthy quickly enough."

"Oh, don't be like that! People have been saying stuff like this all my life, you get used to it," Tony said, waving his hand, as he jumped over the platform to take off his armor. "Even Pepper is used to it by now. Every month or so the media decides we're sleeping together and runs a very provocative piece about it. It gets old after the first ten times."

Hera help her, Diana could barely tolerate the very first time. Being the center of attention was even worse than she anticipated.

"Just so I know," Tony started, grabbing her attention back, "do you like sushi? I can have a personal chef on the plane with us."

Diana had the feeling Tony did not understand the meaning of the words "dangerous expedition".

"Take only what is absolute needed. Clothes, supplies for a short trip through the desert and your armor," Diana said, watching as the robotic arms took Tony's armor piece by piece. "No need for sushi."

Tony nodded as if listening and for a moment she actually believed he was, because she turned to leave the lab and gather her things for the sudden travel. Truth be told, Diana did not want to delay this matter, but she was certainly not expecting to leave that very day.

Diana could only hope she was doing the right thing by taking Tony. It could be dangerous, more dangerous than his war against the Ten Rings if things went wrong. But she made a promise and she would keep it, especially now, after seeing that he could indeed do well in a battle.

Howard Stark was never a warrior, but as Diana learned more at each day, Tony Stark was his own person.

"Oh, by the way," she heard Tony speaking as she was about to leave the lab, "does that mean no strippers on the plane also? My jet happens to have stripper poles already installed."

There was no answer to that question.

* * *

 **Stark Industries Private Jet, on the way to South Africa – April 18** **th** **, 2010**

It took a bit more than Tony predicated to ready the plane. As it turned out, improvising a mobile device so that Dum-E and U could help him suit-up outside the lab took him a tad longer than calling his personal chef would. Or the strippers, he supposed. But soon enough, both of them were in the sky, flying to another continent.

To Richtersveld desert, more accurately, though obviously not directly, since his plane couldn't very well land there; they had a helicopter ready and waiting already at the nearest airport for that.

For what? Tony still didn't know, but he was at least happy to be doing something, away from home for a while. Pepper's mood was still far away from improving and staying there, close to her, was not helping matters.

Traveling to another continent was, surprisingly, a good idea. Calling her from another country was the safe way to go.

Sighing, still very much bothered by the current state of affairs, Tony glanced up, trying to see what Diana was doing with her time; he snickered. A "goddess" watching TV. If it turned out that Diana really was one, then he would have to seriously reevaluate his worldviews.

That's when he noticed "what" she was watching. Better yet, "who".

"… _an unfortunate training exercise involving an F-22 Raptor occurred today. I am pleased to report that the pilot was not injured. As for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who or what intervened, but I can assure you that the United States Government was not involved._ "

Tony chuckled. "See? If we end up causing some unforeseen destruction in this trip, this here is our excuse: training exercise."

Diana looked from the TV to him, puzzled. "The man is covering for you?"

"That's Rhodey," Tony explained. "Well, Colonel James Rhodes, really. He's the friend I called when I was intercepted by a bunch of F-22 when I was coming back from Gulmira."

Her eyebrows went up, slowly.

"Long story short, I kinda of crashed one of their planes. Well, one of them crashed against me, really. No one was harmed," he hurried to say when she opened her mouth, "but they needed an explanation."

"And 'training exercise' is that explanation?" Diana finished. She looked back to the TV. "Good thing he is your friend."

It _was_ a good thing, Tony agreed in silent. There was a point not too long ago that Tony doubted Rhodey's friendship, right after he decided not to make weapons anymore. He was sure Rhodey still didn't approve of that, he was too loyal to the Armed Forces, but when Tony needed, Rhodey had his back.

Just like back in the days.

"So, now that we've picked a good excuse for whatever mischief you have planned for us," Tony started, slowly, "mind to tell me exactly _what_ that mischief is?"

Diana sighed, tiredly. Well, that was a bit rude. In Tony's opinion, he had been remarkably patient to ask that. But the mystery of it all was burning a hole in his mind. Diana had promised undeniable proof that all the stories they considered myths were real, that the gods had once roamed the Earth, that _she_ was a living goddess. Things Tony's rational mind struggled to believe.

And yet, according to her, his own father believed it. Howard Stark, the very man that taught him to be the skeptic he was, apparently believed that Diana was a goddess.

He honestly had no idea how Diana managed to do that, but he was eager to see what she had to show.

"Very well," Diana grumbled, getting up from her chair and pulling her bag closer.

She opened it and fished an immense book from inside it; he was not an expert, but it looked ancient. Still in silence, she gestured towards a nearby table and put the book on it, sitting down. Tony sat by it a second later.

Before Diana started, however, she looked behind her, to the pilot's cabin direction.

"Oh, don't worry about privacy, the light is on," Tony said, pointing at the blue light on top of the door separating them from the pilot and co-pilot. "They know not to enter when it's on."

Diana frowned for a moment and opened her mouth, probably to ask why such a system was even a thing in his plane, but apparently thought better and just shook her head.

"They're paid for discretion," Tony mock-whispered.

She huffed in annoyance and opened the dusty book. Diana was very careful when handling the pages, looking for something inside it, until she finally found it. When she did it, she turned it around so he could see.

Tony really didn't know what to say.

There was a creature drawn there, obviously by hand, inside what looked to be a cave. And if he was understanding the proportions right, it was _big_. He just didn't know exactly what it was. It was scaled and long like a serpent, but it had four legs with immense claws. The impressive thing, however, wasn't the body, it was the head.

It was like a cross of a serpent and an elephant, with fangs, tusks and two big ears. What the hell was that?

As if reading his mind, Diana answered: "Grootslang. An ancient being supposedly so powerful that the gods banished them and hunted them down."

"It looks like what you'd have if an elephant had an affair with a snake," Tony remarked, still staring at the weird beast.

"They were described like that for a very long time," Diana admitted, smiling slightly, "just like minotaurs were half man, half bull and centaurs were half man, half horses."

"Isn't that exactly what they are?" Tony asked, confused.

"Humans look like shaved monkeys. A platypus is often labelled a cross between a beaver and a duck." Diana shrugged. "Men found it easier to describe them that way, but that does not make the descriptions true. That is just their appearance."

Tony looked to the book again. In a weird way, that made sense.

"The legend tells that when the gods created the Grootslangs, long ago, they were surprised by the amount of power and intelligence of their creation," Diana started. "And by their cruelty. The Grootslangs did not want to be ruled by the gods, so they rebelled against their creators and fled, arriving here. And as soon as they arrived, they wreaked havoc in this world. They hunted and consumed anything in their path, they destroyed, killed… Until the gods stood between them and mankind." Diana turned the page, showing what seemed to be a pair of cat goddesses battling a Grootslang. "One by one, the gods hunted them, putting an end to the destruction, until there was no Grootslang left."

He studied the drawings for a moment, trying to read the weird language without success. The images, however, managed to tell a vivid tale.

"Are you sure they were killed? By the look of this drawing," Tony pointed out, "the gods split them in half, creating elephants and snakes." He looked up. "Didn't you just say that didn't happen?"

"That is a myth," Diana argued.

"But not the rest?" Tony insisted. "How do you know which part is 'real myth' and which part is 'fake myth'? Do you have a system?"

"Yes, I have a system!" Diana barked, clearly annoyed by the interruptions. "Now, do you want to hear the rest of the story or do you want to keep talking?"

Wisely, Tony shut his mouth.

"A good portion of this legend is true," Diana explained, calming down. "The Grootslangs were not created by the gods, but they were indeed banished by them. As far as I could find out, they come from Heliopolis or some nearby planet and their arrival on Earth happened because they were running from the Heliopolitans. They might even have been the Heliopolitans whole reason for coming here."

"Heliopolitans are the Egyptian gods, right?" Tony interrupted.

"Yes."

"Okay, go on," he added quickly, before she lost her temper again.

"As the legend said, their arrival in this world was not peaceful," Diana continued. "They killed and destroyed for a long time until the gods watching over this world intervened. There were battles all around the globe, brutal and merciless. Tales that some of them even took part in the War of the Gods, fighting alongside Ares. But eventually the Grootslangs were hunted to extinction." She looked at the book. "Or so they thought."

Reaching for her bag again, Diana grabbed a folder from it and opened it over the table. There were a bunch of satellite pictures inside it; not for the first time, Tony wondered who were Diana's "friends in high places".

"For millennia, there were whispers that one Grootslang survived the culling," Diana said, as she organized the pictures, "and hid in what would be known eventually as Richtersveld, in South Africa. I never believed it, simply because the trail of destruction a Grootslang leaves behind is not something easily ignored. But a month ago, this happened."

Finally finding the picture she was looking for, Diana gave it to him. Like the others, it was also a satellite picture, an aerial view of Richtersveld. By what Diana explained, Richtersveld was a national park, protected by the government and home to a few different peoples. Nomad peoples, that roamed across Richtersveld with their herds of animals, settling and leaving as they desired.

The photo he was holding was clearly one of these peoples. There were simple houses, some tents, animals and people living together. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was the next picture that got his attention.

Because in the exact same place all those people were before, there was only a huge hole. And nothing else.

"Could be an earthquake," Tony said, immediately. "A sinkhole."

What was more likely, anyway? A natural event taking place or a primordial creature that battled the gods appearing in the middle of a national park? In his mind, there wasn't even a contest.

To his surprise, Diana actually nodded.

"It could be. It could be a number of things. That is why I am going there to check it."

Tony stared at her, suspiciously.

"But you still believe it's a Grootslang," he affirmed. "Why?"

She grabbed the photo he was holding, tracing a finger around the hole.

"Perfectly circular hole, not a single survivor, tracks leading to an underground passage. Collapsed now, but it was there." Diana shrugged. "As I said, it could very well be a natural disaster, but my instincts tell me it is something different. I want to see it with my own eyes."

In Tony's opinion, it was insanity. There was simply no way that a half snake, half elephant mythological creature had done that, it was a legend. It had to be. Because if it weren't, if there actually was a Grootslang there, then the whole "gods exist" thing Diana told him could very well be true.

And Tony wasn't sure he was prepared for that leap quite yet, if he ever would be.

Still, he was curious and Diana was taking him with her as a favor. She didn't need him to believe anything, after all, Tony reminded himself.

"Alright, alright…" Tony exhaled, thinking. "For the sake of this conversation, I'll assume everything you just said is real. Mythical monsters exist, done. What then? What if there really is a Grootslang there and it's responsible for all this? What's the plan? You gonna hunt it?"

"I will speak to it first," Diana answered, "then we will see."

Tony glanced at the drawing again.

"Are you sure it speaks?" he asked.

"It is not a beast, Tony," Diana corrected, gently. "It is an intelligent being, much older and much more powerful than any human, probably from a Realm much more advanced than Earth. Despite what you may think of its appearance, in its eyes, humans are probably little more evolved than animals." She looked at the book for a moment. "It must be one of the last of its kind, probably the last on this planet. I would prefer not to end its existence… If I can."

"Even after it ate all those people?" Tony questioned.

Diana didn't answer for a few long seconds. "Grootslangs hibernate for millennia. This one probably woke up recently, which would explain the lack of attacks all those years. It could be confused, hungry, and attacked without knowing it was attacking people. Maybe it is so old that the last time it saw a human, mankind was hardly different from primitive primates." She looked at him. "Or maybe it hunted those people fully knowing what it was doing and killed them because it wanted to. I do not know, but I will find out. And act accordingly."

She got up and sat back again at the comfortable seat, pulling her legs up.

"Now, we have a long way ahead of us," Diana said. "Try to get some sleep. If everything works out, tomorrow you will meet a Grootslang."

Glancing again at the horrific monster in the book, Tony wasn't sure if she was motivating or threatening him.

And he suddenly wasn't so sure if he wanted that to be real or not.

* * *

 **South Africa, Richtersveld – April 19** **th** **, 2010**

Diana glanced at the morning sun, still cold and tender, smooth on her skin. The journey went about without any problems and after a short night's sleep she and Tony boarded the helicopter and flew to Richtersveld before the sun was even up, not even bothering to take a pilot with them.

Until they finally landed at the place Diana suspected a Grootslang had attacked. It was not a pretty view.

Whatever settlement had been there before, it was gone, completely. As if the earth itself had swallowed it whole. Buildings, tents, animals, people… Everything disappeared into the ground and what was left was a giant hole in its place, full of craters around it. No one could have escaped that, Diana knew, and her heart felt heavy thinking about those who lost their lives there.

Could a Grootslang actually be responsible for this? Diana had never met one before, but everything pointed to it. The place, the way it attacked, the brutality… The tracks left behind told a story of their own.

Before she could get on with that, however, Diana heard Tony finally leaving the helicopter, the heavy steps indicating he was wearing his armor again.

"I really need to think of a better way to suit-up," Tony complained, walking to her. "I swear, Dum-E and U will end up ripping off my limbs some– Wow!" Confused, Diana turned, only to find Tony staring at her with an amazed expression. "Nice armor!"

Diana groaned, recalling Howard's fascination with Amazon armor when she did it.

"It seems very… Protective," Tony continued, eyes fixed on her legs.

"As a matter of fact, it is," Diana said, decided to ignore the stare. "Some would say it is almost invulnerable."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to cover a bit more, then? Nothing extreme, of course. A longer skirt, perhaps?"

"Amazons faced armies of men, Tony, but more often than not they were pitted against stronger adversaries. There is only so much a longer skirt can do against a cyclops' club of the size of a tree. At a certain point, armor just gets in the way." Diana grinned. "Besides, I know for a fact my skin can take a few hits, armor or not."

"Well, I approve," Tony said, making Diana roll her eyes.

"Maybe I will find one for you, then."

"You should, I'm sure I would look great in it," he replied without missing a beat. Tony finally moved his eyes up, this time stopping at her shield and sword. "Huh, funny thing, Jarvis says he can't identify those metals either, but he seems pretty certain they are not 'Amazon steel'." He raised a single eyebrow. "I showed you mine, shouldn't you show me yours?"

Diana frowned in irritation; it was like talking to Howard all over again.

"Adamantine," Diana explained. "The metal of the gods. It is mined on Olympus. All the great weapons used by the Olympians were forged using this metal." She grabbed her shield and unsheathed her sword. "The Sword of Athena and the Shield of Achilles. Legendary artifacts wielded by a goddess and a hero. They have served me well."

Diana allowed Tony to hold her weapons for a moment, smiling at the level of attention he had in his eyes when he inspected them. Not precisely the kind of weapons he specialized on, but a master smith was a master smith, no matter the tools he used or the weapons he made.

"Fascinating," Tony whispered. "This metal is unlike anything I've ever seen." He looked at her. "Do you have more?"

"Why? Want to craft an adamantine armor?" Diana asked, smiling. That would be a sight to see.

"I'm neither confirming nor denying this accusation," Tony quipped, giving her the sword and shield back.

Diana rolled her eyes. "Some other pieces of equipment here and there, but it would not do you any good. There is not a forge in this world capable of melting adamantine."

Tony seemed to take that as a challenge rather than a hindrance.

"What about that?" Tony asked, suddenly. He pointed at the Lasso of Hestia on her hip. "Jarvis' scanners are actually glitching when they focus on it."

Diana smiled and was all too eager to unwrap the lasso and pass it to Tony.

"The Lasso of Hestia," she explained, seeing the ropes glow a bit when he touched them. "The Symbol of Power of one of the most powerful Olympians. It is soaked in godly magic. It is no wonder Jarvis is a bit confused."

"Magic… Of course," Tony remarked with all the disdain of a full-blooded Stark. "Imagine that."

She smiled again. "Imagine that," Diana repeated. "On another note, how was your conversation with Pepper last night? Fruitful?"

"It actually was," Tony answered, as if his mouth was running on its own, eyes still on the Lasso held in his hands. "She's still pissed off about what I did, but when I explained why I was doing it, that I had to clean up my mess, that I just couldn't turn a blind eye to what was going on, she understood. It's my name on the bombs, my responsibility." He sighed. "I guess she's afraid of what can happen to me. How about that, huh? Never imagined someone would care. I'm afraid too, you know? For the first time I feel like I'm doing something good, yeah, but I'm afraid of dying like anyone else and, worse, I'm afraid of leaving Pepper. I think I'm really starting to fall for her… And you know what? _That_ scares me more than anything else."

There was a moment of silence after Tony said his last word; then his eyes got the size of saucers. He looked at the golden lasso in his hands, a horrified expression on his face.

"What is this?!" Tony exclaimed, tossing the lasso back to her. "Some kind of psychotropic drug? How did it go through my gauntlets? Did I breathe something? Jarvis, scan my vitals!"

Diana chuckled as he tried to clean his armored hands. "I would tell you it is magic, the kind that forces you to tell the truth, but that would be absurd, would it not?" He just stared back, not capable of saying anything in response to that. "Oh, calm down, you are not in any danger!"

Wrapping the lasso back on her waist, Diana turned, looking back at the hole in front of her. She sighed.

"Well, I believe we are indeed dealing with a Grootslang," Diana finally said.

Tony, still a bit distracted by the whole ordeal, asked: "Why do you say that?"

"Tracks," she answered, simply. "The Grootslang left footprints."

He frowned, lowering his visor to search for them with the help of his HUD.

"I don't see anything," Tony said after a few seconds.

Diana pointed down. "That is because we are standing _inside_ them."

Slowly, Tony glanced down and then looked around, his eyes widening at each second. Because the craters all around them and the giant hole, each of them big enough to stand inside, weren't in fact craters: they were footprints. _Massive_ footprints that looked like the aftermath of a meteor storm.

The Grootslang had burst through the earth and then trampled the settlement.

"How big is this thing?" Tony asked, slowly.

"If the stories hold some truth, they used to feed on mammoths," Diana said, walking to the edge of the hole. "Shall we?"

Tony took a few seconds to follow her.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to reach a blocked part of the tunnel. After Diana jumped in, Tony followed carefully, using his repulsors to float down until the pathway curved enough for them to walk. Unlike he believed before, it wasn't a cave-in; something had dug out a path through the ground. He didn't know what, but it didn't seem likely that the South African government decided to dig a subway tunnel right under a national park.

While he and Diana were busy lifting rocks to reopen the tunnel, Tony's brain was working on overdrive to find a reasonable answer to this puzzle. It certainly looked like _something_ dug up a path, true, and there were no signs of machines or tools of any kind. That suggested it was, indeed, the work of a creature.

But what creature? What animal on this planet was big and strong enough to do this? Tony had no idea. The footprints on the surface wouldn't be out of place in a movie about dinosaurs and whatever managed to break those stones and move through the ground had to be incredibly strong.

Could Diana be right? Could it actually be a Grootslang? And if she was indeed right, what would that mean? Was the creature actually from a world with gods? Or simply a very rare, very _strong,_ animal which legends were based upon? Some kind of African Loch Ness Monster.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Diana punched one last rock, reducing it to ruble.

"It seems wide enough now, we can go on," she said, looking at him. "Follow me."

Still a bit dazed, Tony did so, careful where he stepped. His suit provided him with a perfect night vision mode so he could see where he was going even without light, but even so he was not used to walk underground. Diana, surprisingly, didn't seem bothered at all; her eyes were probably as enhanced as the rest of her, he supposed.

They walked for several minutes, almost an hour, going down the wide tunnel. The place was so big that he was pretty sure a train could through.

"You are quiet," Diana said, after they walked for a while.

"I'm just contemplating the weirdness of this situation," Tony replied after a while. "Were you expecting a journey to the center of the Earth when we left my house?"

"Something like it," Diana smiled. "As far as the myth goes, Grootslangs lived underground and the one that survived the gods' hunt created a lair like no other. Natives called it the 'Wonder Hole' or 'Bottomless Pit'. An underground network of tunnels so big that it spanned the continent and reached the sea. And in its center a cave filled with diamonds."

"Seems extravagant," Tony said.

"Then you will have something in common, no?" Diana joked.

He rolled his eyes. "So this is what you do for a living? Hunt monsters? Find magic lamps and ancient cursed toothbrushes?"

"Surprisingly enough, I do not get paid for this, Tony," Diana retorted. "But more or less, yes. Though the 'hunting' part depends."

"Meaning?"

"I do what I do to protect people," Diana said. "Magical artifacts are dangerous in the wrong hands, some creatures are dangerous to people… And there are always those who want to prey on the weak. I stop them."

Tony wasn't so sure monsters and magic existed – though his mind was beginning to open itself to the possibilities –, but he was certain that there were things and people considered magic and monstrous out in the world. Apparently, she dealt with them, just as he was dealing with the terrorists armed by his own company.

Who would've known Tony would feel such kinship to someone who thought herself the daughter of Zeus?

"Did you and my father go on many adventures together?" Tony couldn't help but to ask. He ignored the weird pang of jealousy the thought brought him.

To his surprise, Diana laughed. She looked at him.

"Your father was not much of a frontline man, Tony," she said. "Though we did go on some expeditions, Howard loathed being out in the field. And I use the words 'out in the field' loosely, because every time he decided to go with me he had to bring every single comfort possible. The finest food, an entire wardrobe for the task at hand, actual beds…" She glanced at him. "There was one time he tried to bring a chef, but I suppose that does not seem very outlandish to you, does it?"

"The chef would've stayed on the plane," Tony defended himself. "So would the strippers."

"He usually brought Jarvis with us," Diana continued, ignoring his very well-thought response, "but Jarvis could handle himself so I never objected." She sighed. "I miss Jarvis, he was a good man."

Tony did too, but he preferred not to get emotional if at all possible, so he just changed the subject.

"So this Grootslang," he began, "it's kinda like that worm from _Tremors_?" Diana seemed puzzled. "Come on, that's a classic, how could you have never seen it before? When we get back, we're going to correct that."

"I would like that," Diana said, smiling almost shyly. Then her expression changed in the next second and Tony saw nothing but a seasoned warrior. "I can hear it."

Tony's feet stopped almost by themselves when Diana said that. He froze for a moment, then looked around, trying to hear or see what Diana claimed she heard, without success.

"I can't hear anything," he whispered.

Her eyes were still fixed on the path in front of them.

"In front of us," Diana said, softly. "I can hear breathing." Then she walked in front of him, eyes fixed on his now. "Tony, listen to me carefully. From now on, you follow my orders. I tell you to stop, you stop. I tell you to hide, you hide. I tell you to run, you _run_." He opened his mouth to argue, but she didn't let him. "This is not up for discussion. This is dangerous, even to me. If you cannot agree with my rules, go back to the helicopter. I will not have you hurt or killed for a stupid reason." Diana breathed deeply and grabbed that golden lasso of hers, offering it to him. "So? Do I have your word?"

Suddenly, with the proximity of what could very well be a mythological monster strong enough to face gods, Tony didn't find it so silly that Diana believed her golden rope was magic. Sighing, he touched it, feeling its warmth even through his gauntlets.

"I promise to follow your orders…" he flinched for a moment, feeling the heat grow uncomfortably. "If I think they're smart."

The heat vanished. Tony stared at the golden lasso with surprised eyes. He had no idea how, but that thing really prevented him from ending his phrase before that last part. It actually forced him to give the truth.

Magic or not – because at that point he was struggling to provide reasonable explanations for the things Diana could do –, it was impressive and he wanted to study it even more than Diana's other equipment.

But now was not the moment, because Diana was staring at him with a single eyebrow raised.

"If you think 'they're smart'?" she repeated, not amused. "That is not how it works, Tony."

"Actually it is," Tony hurried to answer. "I'm not a blind follower, Diana, and if I receive a stupid order you can be damn sure I'm not going to follow it. Be it from you or anyone else." He stood up straighter. "This is the best I can do. Take it or leave it."

"You seem to think I will not lift you over my shoulders like a misbehaved child and carry you back to the helicopter," Diana stated.

There was a long silence.

"Will you?" Tony asked, after a while.

Diana sighed. "Just be on your guard and at least try to obey my orders. I do not ask for the impossible."

Saying this, she turned around and started walking again, moving deep underground. After a second, Tony followed her.

Neither of them was talking anymore and the tension seemed to grow thicker at each step. It was a funny thing, because when he was safe inside his private jet the very idea of a Grootslang existing seemed comical. Half snake, half elephant, how could anyone not find it funny?

He was not laughing now.

And then they were there. The tunnel ended and beyond it was the center of the lair; Diana and Tony approached the edge and stopped, taking in the sight.

Tony supposed he could call it a cave, since they were underground, but the place was so _massive_ that the word didn't seem to fit. The tunnel ended in the middle of a stone wall, hundreds of meters above the ground, and in front of it there was a vale of rocks so big that it went on and on until his eyes could see. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of similar tunnels dug up in the walls and ground and rivers flowed at the bottom of the cave. The ceiling was so high up that Tony could only see the tips of the stalactites pointing down and there were pillars of stone connecting the ground and the ceiling that looked like literal mountains.

And incrusted in every bit of stone were diamonds. Some big as boulders, some no more than shards, but every inch of the walls, the stalactites, the pillars, the ceiling and the ground were covered in them.

A cave full of diamonds. Just like in the myths.

Diana touched his shoulder and whispered: " _Stay_ here. Do not, in any circumstance, come down."

Without waiting for a response, she reached the edge of the tunnel and jumped down, falling for several seconds until she reached ground-level. Normally, Tony would've felt compelled to follow her, but he was so stunned by everything that he could only watch. Diana walked with purpose, crossing the streams of water that flowed through the cave, not once hesitating. Tony watched as she put distance between them, almost holding his breath. Until she finally stopped in the middle of the cave. Diana raised her arms, slowly, and a red aura surrounded her bracelets.

And then, almost delicately, she clashed them together.

The bracelets rang like a bell and the red energy expanded from her wrists like a wave, going in all directions. The diamonds encrusted in every inch of the cave seemed to react, reflecting the red light, glowing incredibly bright.

For a moment, the entire cave was shinning like an immense ruby and Tony simply couldn't look away.

Until everything began to shake.

Tony had to hold to the wall anyway he could to avoid falling from the edge of the tunnel. Dust and small rocks began to rain from the ceiling and cracks began to form everywhere. The rivers running all the way down started to splash. Everything was quaking and Tony feared the whole thing could collapse at any moment.

Then he finally saw it.

"Holy fucking shit," Tony exhaled, eyes wide.

The _huge_ creature was slithering down one of the mountain-like stone pillars, the immense serpent body wrapping itself around it as the Grootslang descended. The paws were gigantic, with claws so big that they buried themselves in the rocks without any difficulty whatsoever. The scales covering the body seemed like plates of black steel and the sheer size of the snake-like body would've dwarfed his plane, in both width and length, by _a lot_.

But as impressive as the snake body was, Tony's eyes were fixed on the Grootslang's head; the head that was now meters away from Diana, looking down on her.

The drawing in the book Diana showed him didn't do it justice. It couldn't capture how fucking _terrifying_ that thing was. The head was gargantuan; it had the general shape of an elephant, with enormous elephant-like ears, a trunk covered in spikes and four long and sharp white tusks. The mouth, however, that was the scary thing. The jaw was so colossal that it simply divided its head in two, sporting a collection of teeth that seemed endless, a swirling red and barbed tongue and two long and curved snake-like fangs.

It was big enough to fit an elephant inside it, Tony had no doubt. And it was right in front of Diana, so close that the Grootslang breath was making her hair move; Diana never seemed so small.

Suddenly, the Grootslang snapped its head up and roared, making the entire cave tremble once again; a roar that sounded like a mix of an elephant trumpet and the hiss of a snake. A roar that made Tony's blood turn to ice.

Well, it seemed Diana was right about all that mythological nonsense after all. They existed.

And Tony finally believed her.

* * *

Diana waited for the Grootslang to finish without blinking, ignoring the near earthquake a mere roar was causing. She could feel the power rolling in waves, clashing against her own, fighting for dominance.

If she wavered, the Grootslang would attack, Diana had no doubt.

Finally, the roar ended and the Grootslang stared down at Diana, its eyes glowing red. The ground quaked when the Grootslang stepped on it, its claws bigger than Diana's entire body, and it leaned closer.

But it did not attack. Diana stepped forward.

"My name is Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Queen Hippolyta," Diana announced, her voice echoing inside the cave. "I am here t–"

"I KNOW THAT SCENT" the Grootslang thundered, interrupting her.

Its voice shook the very foundations of the Earth, booming across the cave. No words were formed – not as any humanoid would understand from the term –, but the Allspeak spoken by the Grootslang translated the terrifying set of growls and snarls – loud enough to shake the entire cave – to something anyone could understand, even someone without the gift for tongues the Amazons had.

The Grootslang sniffed, pulling in so much air that Diana's hair followed the flow.

"SKY AND LIGHTNING… ZEUS' SPAWN!"

Then it started to advance. Thinking fast, Diana clashed her bracelets again; the red shockwave halted the Grootslang, sending it back a few meters, as if it had crashed against a wall.

"I am _not_ my father!" Diana affirmed, her arms surrounded by her red aura. "I am not here to fight!" She met the Grootslang's eyes. "But if you leave me no choice, I will."

The Grootslang snarled, its paws twitching as if wanted to slash, but it stood still.

"THREAD CAREFULLY. YOU ARE IN MY LAIR, DAUGHTER OF ZEUS."

"Only because you left your lair to kill innocent humans," Diana said back, raising her voice. She stepped forward. "This world is under _my_ protection, as is mankind. I will not allow you to kill only because you can."

A strange sound came from the Grootslang. It took Diana a few seconds to understand that it was laughing.

"ISN'T THAT WHAT GODS ARE KNOWN FOR?" the Grootslang asked. "KILLING BECAUSE YOU CAN? HELIOPOLITANS, OLYMPIANS, ASGARDIANS… MY RACE WAS HUNTED ACROSS THE COSMOS LIKE ANIMALS."

"Your race started a war!" Diana retorted, unwilling to accept that defense.

"THE ANCESTORS OF MY ANCESTORS OF MY ANCESTORS DID!" the Grootslang roared. "A LONG, LONG TIME AGO. THEY WERE DEFEATED, BANISHED AND EVEN THEN THE GODS SAW FIT TO KEEP KILLING OUR RACE, NO MATTER WHERE THEY FLED TO." Its paw broke the ground when the Grootslang stepped with force. "SHOULD CHILDREN BE BLAMED FOR THEIR PARENTS' MISTAKES?"

The Grootslang approached her, lowering his head to look Diana in the eyes.

"I AM THE LAST GROOTSLANG IN THIS WORLD," it said. "MAYBE IN ALL WORLDS. I HAVE NEVER STEPPED ON HELIOPOLIS OR FOUGHT IN THE WAR OF THE GODS. AND YET, GIVEN THE CHANCE, EVERY GOD IN THIS UNIVERSE WOULD KILL ME FOR CRIMES COMMITTED MILLENNIA AGO, IN A WORLD FAR FROM HERE, BY PEOPLE I HAVE NEVER MET OR HEARD ABOUT."

That brought Diana to a halt. The thought that the Grootslang in front of her was not a part of that past had never even occurred her. It was ancient, she knew it, and powerful; in her mind, she was absolutely sure it was a survivor from those times. And while Diana would not condemn it for possible crimes committed so long ago, she was admittedly judging the Grootslang for them.

Apparently, her ancestors were just as guilty, if the Grootslang's recognition of her scent meant anything. And the Grootslang in front of her was innocent of those crimes, by the simple fact that it was not even born by that time.

It did not, however, explain the innocent humans killed in Richtersveld last month.

"I will not judge you for the crimes your ancestors committed," Diana said, finally. "My family committed atrocities that I would refuse to be blamed for as well," she added, thinking mainly of Ares. She lifted her eyes. "But I will judge you for the crimes _you_ committed. You killed those humans. I want to know why."

The Grootslang growled.

"WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE ME, DAUGHTER OF ZEUS?"

Diana allowed her power to flow through her, enveloping her entire body in a red aura.

"I am an Amazon," Diana said, the ground cracking under the pressure of her power. "And I am the Godkiller. So thread carefully, Grootslang."

For the first time, the Grootslang, even extremely bigger than Diana, seemed cowed.

"You killed innocent, defenseless humans. Men, women and children. Tell me what happened. Now."

"INNOCENT?" The Grootslang repeated, its tail hitting the stone pillar so strongly that it almost broke in half. " _INNOCENT_?! I SURVIVED THE EXTINCTION OF MY RACE. I TOOK NO PART IN ANY WAR, AGAINST GODS OR MORTALS. I HID AND I SLEPT, HERE, IN MY LAIR, UNTIL THE GODS TURNED AGAINST EACH OTHER AND THEIR AGE WAS OVER." The immense creature got so close that Diana could almost touch it. "I DARED TO HOPE FOR A FUTURE. A FUTURE WHERE I COULD LIVE IN PEACE. A FUTURE FOR MY RACE."

The Grootslang let out a long, menacing growl.

"I USED ALL MY ENERGY AND LAID MY EGGS, ALONE, AS MY KIND CAN DO WHEN WE NEED TO. AND DURING THE CENTURIES THAT WOULD TAKE FOR THEM TO HATCH, I SLEPT. I HOPED TO WAKE UP IN A BETTER AGE." Its eyes glowed and Diana could almost taste its rage. "INSTEAD, I WOKE UP TO SEE MY EGGS GONE."

All Grootslang's claws sunk in the ground, as if the creature had to physically restrain itself not to attack.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?" The Grootslang asked. Diana shook her head, slowly. "YOUR 'INNOCENTS' FOUND THE ENTRANCE TO MY LAIR. THEY WENT DEEP INTO THE GROUND UNTIL THEY SAW THE DIAMONDS. AND US." It raised its gigantic head, eyes still fixed on Diana. "THEY COULD NOT HOPE TO KILL ME, BUT THEY COULD TAKE AWAY MY FUTURE."

The eggs, Diana thought, feeling a pang in her heart. They broke the eggs. _Why_ would they do such a thing?

"I AM BARREN, DAUGHTER OF ZEUS. I LAID MY LAST EGGS. MY LAST HOPE TO SEE BETTER DAYS, TO LIVE AMONGST MY KIND AGAIN. AND THEY TOOK IT FROM ME, ONLY TO SEAL THE TUNNEL BEHIND THEM, AS IF THAT COULD KEEP THEM FROM MY VENGEANCE."

The Grootslang looked to the side and Diana followed its line of sight, only to see a bunch of cracked eggshells; eggshells that had to belong to massive eggs, probably bigger than herself. Grootslang's eggs.

Diana did not know what to say.

"THEY TOOK MY FUTURE, SO I TOOK THEIRS." Then the Grootslang roared again, making the cave shake. "AND THEY WERE ONLY THE FIRST."

Her head snapped up.

"What?" Diana asked, urgently.

"YOU THINK MY VENGEANCE IS SATED, DAUGHTER OF ZEUS? HUMANS DESTROYED MY KIND'S FUTURE. I WILL DESTROY THEIRS. _I WILL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, TO THE LAST_! THIS IS THE PROMISE I MADE UPON MY BROKEN LEGACY."

"You killed the people responsible and even those who had nothing to do with this," Diana argued, immediately. "You took your blood price, more than enough."

"THEY ENDED MY RACE!"

"They were ignorant mortals!" Diana exclaimed, desperately. "Blind, stupid, _dead_ humans that knew nothing about the severity of their crime! You cannot hold mankind responsible for this."

"A FUTURE FOR A FUTURE," the Grootslang said. "MY KIND IS DEAD. THEIRS WILL BE AS WELL."

Diana's eyes widened as the Grootslang stepped forward. The last thing she wanted to do was fight the Grootslang in front of her, to end for good its kind, to finish what the gods started. Not when the Grootslang was the victim.

But if she did not fight, if the allowed the Grootslang to fulfil its promise, the Grootslang would go to the surface and commit genocide. Or die trying.

She had to stop it, somehow. There had to be a way, something she could do. Anything!

That's when they heard a rock falling in the distance, echoing loudly when it hit the ground, almost as if every other sound was muted for a moment but that one. Diana froze, knowing right away the origin of that sound.

The Grootslang's eyes fixed on Tony at the same time Diana turned to look at him.

* * *

"Oh, shit," Tony cursed, looking at the broken piece of the stone wall that had just fallen down.

He touched the tunnel wall, nothing else, to try and hold himself from the constant tremors, but the cracked wall crumbled under his gauntlet.

And the piece that had fallen pretty much sang a song in the silence of the cave. A song both Diana and the very real Grootslang heard.

Both looked at him immediately. There was a second of silence.

"TONY, RUN!" Diana yelled.

He tried, he really did, but when the Grootslang advanced, trampling Diana as if she wasn't even there, Tony just froze. It was as if his mind worked until it overheated, all that new information pouring nonstop into his brain, and the sight of a monster directly out from mythology books running to kill him was the last drop.

Tony could only watch as the Grootslang ran towards him, moving incredibly _fast_ , the ground shaking as the gigantic monster half galloped, half slithered, its eyes oozing hate.

And then the Grootslang jumped, the immense body splitting the air, ready to collide directly against the entrance of the tunnel and, as it turned out, himself.

If someone told Tony an hour ago that he would be killed by a mythological hybrid of an elephant and a snake, he would've laughed himself silly; he wasn't laughing now.

When the Grootslang was meters away from the tunnel's entrance, ready to crash against it and simply crush Tony to death alongside everything in its path, something pulled it back, _violently_. The Grootslang fell down, breaking the ground and making everything shake.

That's when Tony noticed the golden lasso around the Grootslang's body; the other end held by Diana, her feet literally sunk into the ground as she pulled.

Tony had no idea how a lasso that thin managed to hold such an immense creature, how the rope seemed to extend itself to wrap around something that big and even less how Diana managed to overpower it – he knew she was strong, but not _that_ much –, but right now it was not the time for questions.

"TONY, RUN!" Diana yelled again.

He would've done as she asked, since running from a monster that wanted to kill all humans was actually an intelligent thing to do, but he couldn't for one simple fact: the tunnel had collapsed behind him.

There was no way out, at least not through there.

And truth be told, even if Tony could run away, he wouldn't leave Diana behind to face that thing alone, no matter how strong she was. Tony was many things, but a coward was not one of them.

Thinking fast, almost as if following his instincts, Tony powered up his repulsors and flew. Not towards the blocked tunnel, but towards the cave, right in Diana's direction, passing above the fallen Grootslang. It was a good thing the cave was so big, because anything smaller would've meant his death.

The Grootslang was fighting Diana's hold, growling and snarling so loudly that the noise was almost unbearable, but Tony tried to ignore all that as he thought of his next move. The first thought in his mind was to simply unleash every single weapon he had against the monster, but that was quickly ignored.

Not only he doubted his weapons would kill that thing if he fired them blindly, the cave would collapse and kill them all; well, at least kill him.

No, that wouldn't work at all, Diana had warned him about that. He wasn't facing a human, he was facing a mythological monster, as absurd as that sounded. He needed to do better.

"Tony, get out of here!" Diana screamed again, clearly using all her strength to hold the Grootslang.

"Tunnel collapsed," Tony yelled from up there, without looking at her. He was, actually, looking around, searching for something, some edge he could gain over that immense creature.

"FIND ANOTHER ONE!" Diana yelled, clearly pissed off, as her legs sunk into the ground up to her knees; her hands, however, were still holding the lasso to prevent the Grootslang from attacking him.

Tony didn't answer, still floating in the middle of the cave. Finally, he had an idea.

"I have a plan! Keep Dumbo busy for a few minutes," Tony announced, firing his repulsors and flying up.

He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Diana cursing him.

* * *

"That stupid son of a–" Diana screamed, enraged, as Tony flew up high; only to be interrupted when the Grootslang finally managed to win their little tug-of-war.

And sent her flying to the air.

Twisting herself midair, Diana pulled the Lasso of Hestia back, unsheathed her sword and landed gracefully on the ground, already advancing towards the furious Grootslang. She had no idea what Tony meant to do, no idea what _she_ would do, but right now it did not matter.

Diana needed to fight, regardless of her feelings in this situation. The Grootslang was a victim, but she could not allow it to destroy the world.

Nor she could allow it to kill Tony.

Bringing Tony was a mistake. He was a mortal and this was far too dangerous. Diana never intended for him to get mixed up in this fight – even if a fight were to happen – and she intended even less for Tony to become the Grootslang's main target. When she thought about taking Tony to this expedition, the very idea that the Grootslang would even notice him had not crossed her mind; why would an ancient and powerful creature like that care about a single human?

The idea of having a friend – a friend that knew about the truth about her, from what she was to what she did – proved to be too tempting. She would not have noticed if Peggy had not said anything, but Diana was so tired of half-friendships that she took a risk that she normally would not.

She prayed that Tony would not pay for her mistake.

"AHHHHH!" Diana screamed when she finally reached the Grootslang, rolling to the side to dodge the brutal attack from its sharp tusks and lifting the Sword of Athena to slash the Grootslang's leg.

The scales were thick as metal, but they were not a match for the adamantine sword crafted by Hephaestus.

The blade cut a deep gash, sending golden blood everywhere, and Diana was already moving towards the next leg, ignoring the near earthquake the Grootslang's movements created. The wound brought a roar of pain from the Grootslang, but the creature was simply too massive for it to be anything serious.

Diana needed to step up.

Focusing her power in the sword, Diana slashed the other leg. The red wave of godly power was focused by the blade and unleashed in a single blast.

The red slash nearly ripped off the Grootslang's rear left leg, moving forward in a deadly wave that split the ground, almost opening a canyon in the middle of the cave.

This time, the Grootslang yelled in pain and fell, clashing heavily against a stone pillar.

* * *

Tony was doing his best to ignore the sounds of the brutal battle going on at ground-level, while he hovered near the ceiling of the cave, preparing his plan; last time he looked, Diana was _inside_ the Grootslang's mouth, preventing it from closing and shredding her into little pieces by holding the upper jaw with her shield.

He couldn't handle that kind of distraction right now, not when a little miscalculation could cost them their lives.

"Jarvis, analyze the integrity of the structure," Tony ordered. "I want to know what's made of and how to break it."

His HUD displayed the calculations, highlighting the ceiling structure with a blue grid, marking the rock formations' tiny little flaws. At the side of the screen, there was a list of the minerals that made up that part of the ceiling and their approximate percentage.

"Bingo," Tony said to himself, grinning, when he finally found what he was looking for.

Without wasting a second, Tony lifted his hands and aimed his repulsors at the designated targets.

"Sir, I am compelled to ask, what are you planning to do?" Jarvis asked, his impeccable British accent completely calm.

"You ever hear the tale of Saint George and the Dragon?"

Tony fired.

* * *

Diana wrapped the Lasso of Hestia around the Grootslang's neck, using it to hold herself as she rode it, her strength and balance being tested to the limits as the immense monster under her shook and jumped nonstop.

"Stop this madness!" Diana screamed. "I do not want to fight you!"

The Grootslang roared in fury, too far gone in his wrath to care to answer. The leg she nearly cut off had healed in seconds, still sporting a huge scar, but apparently no longer hurting and its power only grew as time passed.

Diana had a time-limit to settle this, she knew it. As the Grootslang's wrath grew, so did its disregard for its lair. Soon, the whole cave would collapse on top of them and Diana could not allow that to happen, not while Tony was still in there.

Where exactly? She had no idea, nor did she know what he was planning, but Diana could still hear his repulsors as he flew. Whatever he had in mind, it prevented him from running when she ordered and Diana wanted to punch him in the mouth for that; now, both of them were trapped in there with an enraged Grootslang about to destroy everything and bury all of them alive.

The last thing Diana wanted to do was to kill the last Grootslang in the world, but her options were vanishing fast. There was no other way to stop it, that she was absolutely sure.

Steeling her resolve, Diana raised her sword, ready to jump down and resume the fight, hopefully a fight she would manage to win. The Grootslang was powerful, even more powerful than she imagined, and it _wanted_ to kill; a single mistake would cost Diana and Tony their lives and mankind – or at least a great many deal of lives – would swiftly follow without someone powerful enough to face it.

When her sword was about to come down, however, Diana heard a terribly _loud_ sound, as if an avalanche was upon them.

Snapping her head up, Diana searched for the sound's origin; her eyes widened when she finally saw it: a stalactite many, _many_ times bigger than her – almost as big as the Grootslang – was falling from all the way up, splitting the air as it approached, _fast_.

Right on top of her.

Releasing her Lasso, eyes still wide from the surprise, Diana bended her legs and prepared to jump away from the back of the Grootslang. When she was about to, however, a red and gold armored blur collided against her, thrusters fully powered, tossing both of them away.

A split second later, the immense diamond stalactite fell on top of the Grootslang, piercing its back like a titanic spear, going all the way through until it pinned it to the ground.

Diana would never forget the roar the Grootslang let out, so loud that even her ears were left ringing; if Tony was not inside his armor, she was sure he would be rendered deaf. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Diana grunted, feeling her back crashing against the ground, the weight of a full-armored Tony not making things any easier.

They bounced against the stone floor, twisting in a tangle of limbs until they finally stopped. Neither of them moved for a few seconds; Diana breathed deeply, feeling Tony still on top of her, then sighed.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked, alarmed, his visor opening to show his concerned face. He got off from her fast, offering her a hand.

Diana hesitated; then she took it and allowed him to help her up.

"I am fine, what about you?" Diana asked, grabbing her sword.

"Couldn't be better," Tony answered, immediately, but neither of them was paying attention to the conversation anymore.

No, their eyes were fixed on the Grootslang. The Grootslang that had been cut in half by a multi-ton diamond stalactite, dropped from hundreds of meters above, right on top of the ancient creature.

The Grootslang that had been split into two: an elephant head and a snake body.

Diana could only look at Tony, astonishment etched on her face.

"Pretty good for a first timer, right?" Tony panted, looking just as shocked as Diana.

* * *

 **South Africa, Stark Industries Private Hangar – April 19** **th** **, 2010**

Watching something as mundane as a plane being prepared for flight, Tony could almost believe he'd hallucinated the last few hours. Perhaps Diana drugged him somehow or some special kind of fungi underground did the job; perhaps he knocked his head too many times these last few days.

Anything was easier to believe than what actually happened: they killed a Grootslang. Tony's heart was still beating fast, the adrenalin flowing through his veins non-stop. He had nearly pissed himself when he saw that thing, true, but he wouldn't have traded that for anything in this world.

Diana was right all along. Tony knew she hadn't lied to him, but the possibility that she was crazy or at least too religious to care had always been there. But no, the truth was that the world was much bigger than Tony realized.

And for the first time since he was a kid, Tony felt like he knew nothing.

Grootslangs were real. Gods, by what Diana told him and her conversation with the Grootslang, were real. Magic was also real, Diana's equipment was proof of that and also the fact that he could understand the roars and snarls of the Grootslang as if it were speaking English. Monsters, enchanted artifacts, the myths of old… Everything was real and Tony's curiosity was nearly bursting from his chest.

Did Diana even realize what that meant? How the existence of all that changed the very foundations of what they understood about the world? Probably not, he thought, she had grown up with that knowledge. But to him? To the rest of mankind? It changed everything.

Tony couldn't remember the last time he felt so excited.

Looking at Diana, he noticed right away that she didn't share that feeling.

He sighed. Diana was standing a few feet from him, watching as the airport staff finished to prepare the plane, her eyes far away. Okay, maybe she had reason to look glum, Tony wouldn't deny it. That whole business with the Grootslang left a bad taste in his mouth too.

Sure, they had no option, not when the Grootslang wanted to kill them and proceed to kill everyone else, but by what it said the Grootslang was a victim in all this as well. It didn't deserve to be killed and Tony was pissed that it had forced their hand, but what was done was done. The Grootslang was dead, the lair was sealed to avoid any meddlers from going down there and now they could only move forward.

If only it were so easy, Tony thought, sighing. He walked to Diana; he couldn't stand seeing her sad anymore.

"You know we had no choice, right?" Tony asked, startling her; proof of how distracted she was, because by his observations, her hearing was stuff of legends. "It would have killed us and then killed everyone else it found." He looked into her eyes. "And _you_ didn't kill it, I did. Whatever guilt you may be feeling, don't. It's mine."

Diana didn't answer for a moment.

"I know, Tony. This was not the first difficult decision I ever came across. The Grootslang needed to be stopped and we stopped it. You stopped it." She looked at him. "It wanted to die. It was the last Grootslang in this world and it could not bear that burden. We were just the chosen method."

"Oh! Good," Tony exclaimed, surprised. "Why you're looking so down, then?"

"I am thinking," Diana said and then she was in silent for a moment. She turned to him. "Imagine you are a member of the nomad village the Grootslang slaughtered. One day, you find a hole in the ground, leading to a tunnel underground. Would you explore it?"

Tony raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised, but decided to play her game.

"Well, I'm a curious person, so yeah, probably." He thought for a moment. "But I admit that going down, all the way, is not what most would do. We spent nearly an hour walking and we had equipment to see perfectly in the dark. I had, you just have good eyes, but you get it."

She nodded. "Yes, I suppose a curious person might do it, go all the way until he or she found the lair. A cave filled with diamonds. What would you do then?"

"Try to mine it?" Tony guessed. "Maybe to buy… An expensive sheep, perhaps? What do nomads do with their money, anyway? Do they even need it?"

Diana smiled. "A bit, maybe, but I doubt they would risk mining the diamonds when they saw the Grootslang down there."

"That's… A fair assumption. I would probably go back up right away and tell everyone to move to another spot, far from there."

"And yet, those people decided to go back down in the lair even after seeing the Grootslang, not to mine the diamonds, but to steal and break the eggs." Diana raised her hands, as if surprised. "Why? _Why_ would they do that? What could they hope to gain, other than the hatred of a very powerful creature?"

Tony's eyes widened at each word. How didn't he see that before?

"What are you saying?" he asked. "The Grootslang lied to us?"

"No, the Grootslang did not lie," she answered right away. "That much I can tell. But it was sleeping when the eggs were broken. It might not have known the full story."

"But what reason would… Not all eggs were broken," Tony exclaimed.

Diana smiled, glad that he reached the same conclusion.

"The Grootslang could not know, not when all that was left were smashed eggshells. It assumed they were all destroyed, but what if it was wrong? What if someone broke the eggs to disguise a theft, blamed it on the nomads living close by and vanished with the prize? What if the people the Grootslang killed were not responsible for the destruction of the eggs?"

That would change everything, Tony thought. Someone was responsible for the death of an entire nomad village, for the extinction of an entire species and very nearly their own deaths.

More importantly, whoever did this had a Grootslang egg out in the world. That was not good for anybody.

"Do you know who could've done this?" Tony asked. "I mean, not many people have the knowledge and the means to do this. It's a small circle."

Diana was pensive.

"I do not know." Her eyes burned with resolve. "But I will find out."

For a moment there, Tony almost pitied the poor bastard that had pissed off Diana.

They remained in silence for a few minutes, watching the staff carrying the last of their stuff to the plane. Suddenly, Diana asked:

"What are those men carrying? We did not bring that many things."

"Oh, that?" Tony asked. "You see, you were feeling pretty bad on the way back from the cave, so I wanted to do something to cheer you up."

She glanced at him, suspicious.

"Please tell me that is not alcohol," Diana begged, looking at the entrance. "And that strippers are soon to join us."

Tony grinned. "No, I'm sure Pepper wouldn't like that one bit… But I'm glad to see you're familiar with the process."

He said that as a joke, expecting a frown or even a playful slap to the head. What he _didn't_ expect was to see Diana blush.

"Oh my god… Did you really–"

"Not another word!" Diana barked.

Tony felt it was wise not to push. He would leave that for another day.

"No, no alcohol – can you even get drunk? –, no strippers," Tony explained, picking up a tray from one of the employees. "Cheeseburgers!"

The smell was amazing; nothing like killing a mythological monster to open one's appetite. Apparently it worked on goddesses too, because Diana was staring fascinated.

"All of those are cheeseburgers?" Diana asked, shocked.

"No, not all, we have ice-cream too." He glanced a the several trays being boarded. "I hope you're hungry and not too attached to your slim figure." Tony eyed her, looking just as amazing in a dress as she was in her Amazon armor. "Can gods and goddesses even get fat?"

Diana smiled brightly, finally leaving behind that sad face; he wasn't certain if she was smiling because of all that food – a good enough reason to be happy, true – or because Tony finally called her a goddess without any semblance of mockery or doubt in his voice.

"I do not know," Diana said, still smiling at him. "I guess we will find out."

* * *

 **Stark Industries Private Jet, on the way to the US – April 19** **th** **, 2010**

"Alright, dragons," Tony said, his mouth full of cheeseburger, looking at the small list he made from a napkin. "Real? Someone drank too much and fought a particularly big iguana? What is it?"

"Real," Diana nodded, swinging her ice-cream filled spoon lightly.

"But it makes no sense! A creature that heavy could never fly, no matter how big its wings are."

Diana smiled, reaching for more ice-cream. She would have never imagined she would have this conversation with Tony.

"They do not fly following the rules of aerodynamics, Tony, they fly using their powers," Diana explained. "Some dragon species and races do not even have wings at all and that do not stop them from ruling the skies."

"Then how come we've never seen one in the news? I'd imagine a dragon would've flown over a city at some point."

"There are not many dragons left in this world," she told him, sadly. "Most of them left to other Realms or crafted their own Realms inside pocket dimensions, like the dragons of K'un-Lun. Some still reside on Earth, above the clouds, under the sea, inside mountains or on protected islands… Dragons are solitary creatures and they have no interest in interacting with mankind." She tilted her head. "Most of the time."

"Real, fire-breathing, flying lizards?" Tony retorted, eyes wide, as he checked the word 'dragon' from the list. "Incredible."

"Not all of them breathe fire," she informed him. "Some do, some do not. Some breathe ice or lightning, some do not have wings. Some are as long as serpents, others have legs and horns. Some are little more than intelligent beasts, others are far more intelligent than you and I put together. But all dragons have one thing in common: they are _immensely_ powerful." Diana pointed her spoon at Tony. "Never face one of them. They rarely start fights, but they are known to end them swiftly. And violently."

The jet was flying over the ocean, the night already dark behind the windows. Diana honestly did not know how Tony was still up, since the last days had been particularly busy for him, but she was glad to have someone to talk to.

Especially when Tony finally believed her; she remembered feeling much the same when Howard stopped being an idiot and opened his eyes. It was a joyous moment.

One of the few she had after the war.

"Okay, dragons are real," Tony went on. "Grootslangs are real… Though I had no idea the myth even existed before you told me, if I'm to be honest. Giants? Real or just myths created to explain ancient basketball players?"

"Interesting question, because the word 'giant' is used to describe many different beings, some completely unrelated to one another," Diana said, feeling like a teacher. "There are the offspring of Gaea, brothers to the Titans and Cyclopes, and they branch out into several different races, such as the Hecatoncheires and the Gegenees. At another corner of the universe, there are the Jötnar – better known as Frost Giants here – on Jotunheim, the Eldjötnar or Fire Giants on Muspelheim… 'Giant' is a very generic word, but yes, 'giants' are real. And not all of them are big, despite what the term might mean here, nor they are necessarily 'humanoids'."

There was a second of silence, then Diana pointed a finger to him.

"Do not–"

"Do not fight them, I know, I know. Jeez, I killed one monster and suddenly I'm Buffy!" Tony stopped for a moment. "Speaking of Buffy, what about vampires?"

"Real."

"You gotta be kidding me!"

"Unfortunately, I am not," Diana sighed.

"Real _real_ vampires?" Tony exclaimed, still shocked. "The kind that are barbecued if they go out in daylight and die if they eat the wrong flavor of pizza? The bloodsucking kind?"

"There are many, _many_ , different kinds of vampires, Tony. Different bloodlines, sects, clans… Not all of them share the same strengths and weaknesses. Some are powerful enough to face gods, others are routinely hunted down by human hunters." Diana said. "But, yes, the vast majority of them are susceptible to sunlight and other… traditional methods."

Tony was still watching her, jaw agape. Diana continued to educate him.

"They are relatively rare, at least compared to the number of humans. And most of them have no interest in revealing themselves to mankind, so 'word-domination' plans are hardly ever heard of… Though they do happen, occasionally." She licked her ice-cream. "Luckily for me, they made some pretty driven enemies over the years, so I mostly do not have to deal with them. As some would say, not my department."

The Daywalker had things under control for most of the time, Diana mused.

"It's a new species, a disease, magic, what is it? What are they?" Tony asked, incredibly interested.

"Mortals changed by an evil entity from another dimension, a being named Chthon," Diana explained. "Humans – any mortal really, born on Earth or not – corrupted by Chthon's power. I do not know the full story of how they came to be, but Chthon 'infected' our dimension millennia ago and vampires are the result." She opened her arms. "I do not know how exactly they appeared on Earth, but they exist _everywhere_ throughout the cosmos, always feeding on the life-force of others. Not all of them are evil, though, but all of them are dangerous."

Tony kept staring at her, eyes glowing.

"Other dimensions… You have no idea what this little fact would do to the science community," Tony mumbled, shaking his head. "So we have beings in other dimensions too? Like this 'Chthon' fellow? What is he, some sort of demon?"

Diana lifted a finger.

"Like the word 'giant', 'demon' is too broad of a term to describe anything properly," she said. "There are lots of beings called demons and most of them have nothing in common to one another. Some are from other dimensions, some are simply from other planets, some are twisted or cursed souls, some are species birthed by using 'demonic energies'… Different origins, different appearances, different strengths, different weaknesses, different dispositions." She shrugged. "Like the word 'god', it largely depends on the perspective of the one telling the story."

"And here I thought 'gods' were good and 'demons' were bad," Tony joked.

"A naive point of view," Diana retorted, gently. "There are gods, such as Ares, so cruel that even the foulest creatures cowered in fear of them. And there are demons who fight for the innocent with all their power." She smiled. "In the end, what you do means more than what others think of you."

Tony was in silence for a while, as if contemplating the important lesson she was trying to impart; Diana should've known better.

"Okay, but succubi are real?" Tony asked, suddenly. Diana groaned. "It's a real question."

"Oh, I am sure it is," Diana said, sarcastically. "To be honest, though, if someone should be concerned about succubi, it would be a Stark."

"So they are real!" he exclaimed, smiling like a happy child. "Are they like in the myths? Sex-demons that bang anything that move?"

Diana really did not want to have this conversation. She sighed, tiredly.

"Pretty much, yes. And they can be annoying, I will say that much."

"You've met one?!"

Diana nodded, grabbing a cheeseburger and mixing it with her ice-cream; she suddenly needed the calorie bomb.

"I have met three succubi, three sisters," Diana said, taking a huge and unladylike bite. "Succubi are the daughters of the goddess Lilith, an Annunaki." Tony frowned in confusion. "You would know the Annunaki as the Mesopotamians gods, I suppose. Lilith was one of them, a powerful goddess, and the succubi race was created by her by using the energy of a demonic Realm. They were Lilith's daughters, army and, for a long time, her eyes and ears throughout the universe."

"Nothing makes someone a talker more than post-sex bliss," Tony piped up.

"That is… true," Diana agreed, reluctantly. "Anyway, I never met Lilith, the Annunaki left Earth before I left Themyscira, but some of their relics stayed behind. One of them was a statue of Lilith, enchanted, and very dangerous. Something I had to find."

"What did the statue do?" Tony asked.

Diana took a deep breath. "It turned people mad… with lust."

She did not like the glow in Tony's eyes and even less the way he leaned forward, paying more attention than ever.

"Oh my," he said, simply.

"As you can guess, not something I could leave unchecked, so I went looking for it, following the… Incidents. They led me to Italy, Florence, where I found out that the statue was in possession of an old family, that was reduced to three orphaned sisters." Diana glanced at Tony with all the annoyance she could convey. "Imagine my surprise when the 'orphaned' sisters were actually three succubi."

"Let me guess, they were leaving men and women dried like prunes all over the city," Tony said. "What do they do, by the way? Kill people via sex?"

"They can, but it is rare," Diana explained, using her 'detached and scientific' voice. "They feed on energy and they do that by the act of sex. It is usually harmless, but depending on how much they take, people can die."

"They can be the ultimate black widows, then," Tony joked. "Dangerous."

And all of a sudden Diana thought about Natalia and those succubi, something that she definitely _did not_ want to imagine. She shook her head, fast.

"They can be dangerous," Diana acknowledged, slipping into her 'professor persona' again. "They were made to seduce _anyone_ , they can assume different shapes and they have a considerable amount of power, if the need to fight ever arises, but they are mostly harmless. Those sisters were."

"Harmless?"

"Yes. And innocent of the crimes I was ready to blame them for," Diana admitted. "Like me, they were after their mother's statue to keep it away from the wrong hands. They had acquired it not too long ago and they were keeping it safe. The… _situations_ that led me there had nothing to do with them."

"So you never did get the statue," Tony said.

"No, they gave it to me, for safe-keeping," Diana answered before she could stop herself.

Tony leaned forward even more, a disturbing glow in his eyes. "Do tell."

Diana wanted to slap him. And herself.

"They invited me to a party, a banquet to celebrate a very famous opera they were responsible for bringing to Florence," Diana said, slowly. "After the party, they showed me their collection of ancient artifacts… And gave me the statue as a gift."

There was a long silence.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! You cannot end the story like that!" Tony exclaimed. "It's inhumane! The succubi just gave you their mother's statue? Without asking for anything in return? I _dare_ you to tell me that while holding that lasso of yours. There's no way the story ended like that, I doubt it."

"And yet, it did," Diana declared, putting an end to that conversation.

Tony raised a single finger. "To be continued. I'll even put a small mark here in the list, right by the side of the 'succubus' item." He read his little list again, thankfully dropping the matter, and continued. "I suppose most of the Greek mythology monsters are real, right? Minotaurs, centaurs, sirens, nymphs…"

"Real, yes. Most of them hail from Olympus and almost all of them returned before it was closed off. The myths about them are not always true, but they do exist."

"Let's move on to the next, then. Fairies." Since Diana didn't say anything for a while, Tony looked at her. "You know, fairies. Fairy Godmother, Tinkerbell, that kind of thing."

"I know what fairies are, Tony," Diana deadpanned. "I just do not have the best experiences with the Fae."

Tony eyed her weirdly. "We're talking about the same thing, right? Little Tinkerbell and her pixie dust? What could something like that even do to you? Fly inside your ear by mistake?"

"The Fae are _not_ cute little creatures, Tony, they are dangerous and powerful beings that even the gods are wary of," Diana said, seriously. "They tend to leave a trail of victims wherever they go and the worst part is that most of them do not even realize it. They understand so little of mortals, that what might be considered 'playful' or 'kind' to a Fae, is almost always considered a hellish torment to a mortal. Keep away from the Fae, Tony, it never ends well."

The shocked expression on Tony's face was difficult to describe.

"Wow, I'm… I don't know what to say," Tony finally said. "They are really that dangerous? Tinkerbell? Really?"

Diana sighed.

"The Fae hail from a place called Otherworld, located on Avalon, the Realm of the Tuatha da Danaan, or the Celtic gods, as you would know them."

"Avalon?" Tony interrupted. "King Arthur's Avalon? It's a planet? Like Olympus? So that means King Arthur, Merlin, Morgana… They're all real?"

Diana nodded, smiling at his shock. "Not exactly as the stories tell, but yes, they existed. Millenia ago, the Tuatha da Danaan visited Earth and created a nexus of portals located all over the British Isles leading to Avalon. King Arthur, as the story goes, ended up crossing them at some point and reaching the Realm of the Celtic gods, where he lived. The portals do not exist anymore, not for a long time, but the same way it gave Arthur a path to Avalon, it also gave the Fae a path to Earth." She paused, then added. "Not that they needed those portals to reach our planet, but it was through them that the Fae found out about our Realm."

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't they need a portal to arrive here? Tinkerbell has a spaceship now?"

Diana rolled her eyes and continued to explain.

"The Fae are one of the few creatures that can hop from this dimension to the Astral Dimension as if there were no borders between the two of them." Seeing Tony's confused expression, Diana explained. "The Astral Dimension is a place where the soul exists outside the body. A spiritual plane where the rules of our dimension, like distance and time, matter little, a pathway that our souls must take to reach the afterlife when we die. Most beings can only enter the Astral Dimension by leaving their bodies behind and projecting their astral form forward, but the Fae can completely cross it, as if their bodies and souls were the same thing."

"Okay, souls and afterlife are a thing, let's put a pin in it for now and return later to this," Tony remarked, taking a long breath first. "So the Fae are spiritual and corporeal… at the same time? Why would that make them dangerous?"

"For one, it makes them hard to kill," Diana pointed out. "Even the most brutal wounds can be meaningless to them, if they have the chance to simply let go of their physical forms and cross to the Astral Plane. It also gives them the ability to reach other Realms without the need of portals or ships. They simply cross via the Astral Dimension, where time and distance are meaningless, and arrive wherever they want, something other beings cannot do, because they would have to leave their bodies behind." Diana lifted a finger. "But what makes the Fae dangerous to us is the simple fact that they are different. Truly different, even more than gods and mortals, in such a way that makes understanding them impossible. And, in turn, makes their understanding of us equally difficult."

"How so?"

"The Fae do not feel hunger, they do not need to sleep, they do not feel pain as we do, they do not fear death as mortals do. Most of them do not even have a true physical form, like the will-o'-wisps, or simply cannot manifest themselves fully in this dimension. The ones who can are usually very old and very powerful and even them do it simply as a way to copy what they saw mortals or even gods doing. They are so different from the other beings of this dimension that most cannot comprehend basic facts about us." Diana tilted her head. "Add to that the fact that they possess great power, great control over magic, and it makes for a bad combination. Like children playing with the wings of a butterfly, not out of cruelty, but because they thought it beautiful and had no idea that touching them would harm the poor animal."

In silence, still staring at Diana, Tony reached for another cheeseburger; he gave one to her.

"My mother told me a story once," Diana began, biting her cheeseburger, "that should give you an idea of how little the Fae know about us. This happened before the War of the Gods, when the Amazons still defended the world." She thought for a second, remembering the old tale. "A Fae crossed to our Realm once and stumbled on a small pouch full of golden coins. The lost loot from an old battle, perhaps, something relatively valuable, but the Fae was not interested in the value of the gold, he became fascinated with the coins themselves. Maybe it was the metal, maybe it was the etching on the coins, I do not know, but the Fae loved it and he took them with him. And for a long time he poured magic over them, marking the coins with his own essence. Until the day he needed to leave and abandon his treasure, hidden in the dirt"

"Let me guess, some poor bastard found it?" Tony said.

She nodded. "A man found it, as he walked through the woods, and since there was no one around he took the coins for himself. It was a small treasure and it seemed to belong to no one, so why would he not take it? He took it home and used it to improve his life. He bought a new house, clothes, better food… Until the day the Fae finally returned, looking for his coins."

"Oh, dear."

Diana couldn't help but to grin.

"It did not take long for the Fae to find his lost coins, not when they were imbued with his own magic. And to find the man that had them. The Fae was furious! How could that mortal steal from him? He needed to be punished, swiftly. So he prepared his vengeance."

Tony leaned closer, truly interested in the story.

"When the man left his house, the Fae acted. He got into the man's house and found what was left of the treasure, of the beautifully crafted coins. He grabbed them in his hands and focused his magic until thousands upon thousands of golden coins were created out of nothing. So many that soon the entire house was filled with coins. But it was not enough!" Diana shook her cheeseburger. "Enchanting space itself, the Fae expanded the house until it was the size of a castle and filled it with more and more coins, until gold was bursting from it. And only then, the Fae left, never to return, his need for vengeance fulfilled."

Tony's jaw was agape.

"His 'vengeance' was to build a castle filled with golden coins for the guy who stole the coins?" he asked, slowly. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Exactly my point," Diana retorted, pleased. "The Fae cannot understand us anymore than we can understand them. To him, the greatest punishment he could imagine was for the man to have the coins in his possession and yet never be able to lay eyes on them again. To have the beautiful coins so close and yet so far, to be able to _almost_ touch perfection, but never be able to reach it, forever lost in an immense treasure that looked almost the same. To the Fae, that was a terrible punishment for a thief." Diana smiled. "But to the man? He went back to a castle full of gold, thanked the gods, and proceeded to live the rest of his life like a king, never realizing he was being punished at all."

Tony was shocked into silence for a few seconds.

"And how does that make fairies dangerous?" Tony finally complained. "Is this some sort of metaphor against the dangers of capitalism?"

Diana rolled her eyes.

"It makes them dangerous because the same way they can mistakenly reward someone they were trying to punish, they can also commit true atrocities to innocent people they were trying to bless. And not even realize they did it." Diana stared seriously at Tony. "That story I just told you happened thousands of years ago, but I crossed paths with a Fae a few decades ago and have a story of my own. You see, a woman found an injured Fae and helped her. The Fae would have died otherwise, so when she was healed, the Fae told the woman that she could ask for anything in return, and she would grant it. It was a powerful Fae, a Lady of one their Higher Courts, capable of great feats of magic. The woman, however, wanted nothing, no reward for doing something any good person would. She had a perfect life, you see, she was engaged to a man she loved more than anything and she wanted nothing else than to stay forever with her future husband."

A long sigh escaped from Diana's lips.

"The Fae took that as a literal request."

"Oh…"

"The Lady bound them together, body and soul. Their bodies were merged to one another, turning them into a single entity with two minds. Have you ever heard the myth of soulmates? The one that tells that mankind was 'whole', possessing four arms, fours legs and two faces and that the gods – in some tales they even say it was Zeus – separated them, forcing mankind to live their lives in search for their other half? Well, the Fae did the opposite of what the gods did in this tale and the result was grotesque."

Tony was so horrified that he stopped eating.

"How… Why… Did you help them?" Tony stammered, shocked to his core.

Diana nodded, a glassy look in her eyes. "I did, but it was not easy. I managed to take them to a sorcerer friend of mine and she was able to reverse the enchantment over their bodies, but the souls were bound in the Astral Dimension, so someone would have to go there, personally, and separate them. That 'someone' was me, obviously," Diana deadpanned. "My friend managed to anchor me to this dimension while my astral form roamed the ever-changing palaces of the Fae Courts, fighting hordes of their warriors until I finally found where the Lady had taken their souls. And then I fought her too, because she did not want me to undo her 'blessing'."

She unconsciously closed her hands into fists.

"Never again. For beings supposedly sworn to the gods of Avalon, the Fae certainly had little respect for an Olympian." Diana stared at Tony. " _Fuck_ Tinkerbell, that is all I have to say about this."

That sent Tony over the edge and he started laughing like a madman, hands covering his face as his body shook. Seeing him laugh made Diana laugh and soon they both had tears of happiness rolling down their faces.

Diana could not help but to feel free, finally able to truly connect with another person again; it had not happened since Nat. It was good to have a new friend, a friend that she could talk to without hiding her true nature.

Peggy was right, unsurprisingly; that woman was annoyingly wise.

"I never thought you would actually accept the 'supernatural' so easily," Diana mentioned.

"Oh, I'm not accepting the 'supernatural'," Tony retorted. "If it exists, by definition, it's natural. The fact that I still don't understand fully how magic and gods and monsters work to write a set of laws about it doesn't make it any less natural."

Diana raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Very mature of you."

"Well, I can't exactly argue against your proof, can I? You showed me artifacts I can't understand, materials that don't respond to the law of physics and, well, yourself. And something directly out of the myths that I could see it with my own eyes: a Grootslang that lived in a time when gods roamed the Earth." He tilted his head. "Hard to disagree with you when a talking half-elephant, half-snake almost ate us."

Diana chuckled and they stayed in silence for a bit, eating. She had lost count how much ice-cream she had consumed and Tony was almost inhaling his cheeseburgers. Quite the appetite for a mortal, Diana admitted.

"So, Tony, now that you we have crossed off some of the items from your little list," Diana began, after she watched Tony eat for a few minutes, "do you mind if I ask some questions of my own?"

"Ask away," Tony answered, grinning. "Though my stories are probably not that interesting, not compared to crazy fairies." He thought for a moment. "Actually, I do have some interesting ones, I'm just not sure you'll want to hear them."

"By what I already heard, I suppose I will not," Diana joked. She waited a few seconds, then her expression got serious. "You told me that you would look for the men that approved the weapons' shipments, the ones that ended up in the hands of the Ten Rings. How do you plan to do that?"

Whatever Tony was expecting, it wasn't that, Diana could clearly see it; he quickly got serious too.

"I'm already doing it," he said, surprising her. "I created a backdoor for Jarvis to enter Stark Industries' systems. Nothing complicated, I had access to them after all, but the sheer amount of data we have stored in our databases will take a bit of time to check. But Jarvis will get to it and when he's done, I'll have the names of everyone involved in this and head will roll." He stopped talking for a moment. "They had no right to sell my weapons to those people."

They were both in silence for a moment, then Diana asked something that was bothering her for a while, the real reason she even asked about this.

"Do you think it is possible that the ones involved in this are also involved in your kidnapping?" she asked, suddenly.

Tony snapped his head up, staring at her. It seemed the idea had not crossed his mind.

"I don't know," he said, his voice almost inaudible. "I hadn't exactly thought about the possibility, to be honest. I thought it was an accident, a stroke of luck for the Ten Rings. But… Now that I think about it, it does makes sense."

Betrayal was a horrible thing and Tony, no matter how he tried to hide, was feeling it. If Diana was right, then people inside Stark Industries had schemed to kidnap and kill Tony. They had no idea who yet, they did not even know if they were right, but the possibility existed.

Diana reached and placed her hand on Tony's cheek.

"We will find them. Together," she promised.

Tony did not answer, but he seemed to relax and that was enough for her.

"Alright, what about genies?" Tony asked, suddenly. Diana was startled for a moment. "Like the blue one that helped Aladdin. Real or not?"

Diana could not help but to smile. Tomorrow's problems could be dealt with tomorrow. Now they could relax a little bit.

"Real," Diana nodded, reaching for yet another ice-cream. Tony watched with rapt attention, that 'Stark curiosity' of his making his eyes glow.

Not for the first time, Diana was glad that Peggy had successfully convinced her to reach out for Tony. She did not know how much she needed a friend.

* * *

 **Afghanistan – April 20** **th** **, 2010**

Raza Hamidmi Al-Wazar stood perfectly immobile in front of his tent, waiting for his esteemed guest to arrive. Around him, his soldiers guarded the camp, armed with rifles, all of them on edge. The moon glowed over the desert land.

Finally, the black SUV's arrived, stopping right in the middle of the camp. Obadiah Stane got out, surrounded by his own guards, and walked to him.

Dealing with Stane left a bad taste in Raza's mouth. This was a man that believed in nothing, was loyal to no one and cared only about money. Worthless. Faithless. But right now, probably Raza's only hope to survive.

His plan to kidnap Tony Stark failed spectacularly, after all, leaving Raza in a difficult situation. Mandarin, the leader of the Ten Rings, was furious. He had attracted the attention of every intelligence agency on the planet, of the Godkiller and even Tony Stark himself was fighting back, if what he did in Gulmira meant anything.

Lots of enemies and no allies, that was Raza's state of affairs; maybe he could change this, with Stane's help.

Stane stopped in front of him, a smirk on his lips as he stared at the scars on Raza's face.

"Welcome," Raza greeted. He gestured towards the burns. "Compliments of Tony Stark."

"If you'd killed him when you were supposed to, you'd still have a face," Stane remarked.

"You paid us trinkets to kill a prince," Raza retorted.

A half-truth. Raza never intended to kill Tony Stark right away. What good would that do him? He wasn't interested in Stane's money; he was, however, very interested in Stark's knowledge. A mind like that deserved respect, even if the man itself did not. The Mandarin needed an edge to win his war and Raza believed Stark could have provided it.

It did not work the way he intended, true, but after all Tony Stark did to him, he still left something valuable behind.

Maybe valuable enough to change Raza's luck.

"Show me the weapon," Stane demanded.

Raza stared at him for a few seconds.

"Come. Leave your guards outside."

Leaving their soldiers facing each other, Raza brought him inside the tent: Stane's eyes were fixed on suit of armor assembled in the middle at the moment he got in.

"Stark's escape bore unexpected fruit," Raza explained, but Stane was barely listening, staring impressed at the suit Stark used to escape.

"So this is how he did it?" he whispered, stopping in front of it.

"This is only a first, crude effort," Raza said. "Stark has perfected his design. He has made a masterpiece of death."

Raza meant every word. The suit in front of him was created from scraps, discarded parts of weapons, junk; even then, it was more than enough for him to escape captivity, killing with ease every single man in his path.

And the suit that Stark used to attack his soldiers in Gulmira was on a whole other level.

Genghis Khan had conquered his empire by using the pinnacle of technology at the time, the bow and arrow. Raza believed he could do the same, by using the pinnacle of technology of _this_ time: Stark's suit.

"A man with a dozen of these can rule all of Asia," Raza continued. "And you dream of Stark's throne. We have a common enemy."

Raza had the suit's designs and the prototype; Stane had the money and technology to build them. Together, they could create an army strong enough to destroy all their enemies, to restore Raza's position in the Ten Rings.

Maybe even strong enough to kill the Godkiller.

The Mandarin had more than enough gold to keep even a greedy man like Stane satisfied, as long as he had the weapons to sell. He would be a rich man and sit on his throne, exactly as he wanted to. Both had a lot to gain from this.

"If we are still in business," Raza went on, sitting by his table and serving tea as Stane studied the suit, "I will give you these designs as a gift." He looked at Stane. "And in turn, I hope you'll repay me with a gift of iron soldiers."

Raza raised the glass full of tea and offered it to Stane, a smile in his lips. He had Stane, he knew it. The man was greedy and Raza had offered him everything he wanted. Smiling, Stane approached, leaning over him and patting his shoulder. Raza had won.

That was what he thought until he heard a piercing noise right by his ear, a noise that made his entire body freeze in place. Raza had never felt so much pain.

Stane stared at him, serious; a device in his ears was glowing, probably protecting him from that terrible noise.

"This is the only gift you shall receive," Stane declared, not a shred of pity in his voice. He stepped back, glancing at Raza's paralyzed form; he held a small device in his hands. "Technology. It's always been your Achille's heel in this part of the world."

Raza could only stare at Stane, his heart beating fast as he tried to move; his body simply didn't respond.

"Don't worry, it will only last for 15 minutes," Stane said, taking the earpieces out of his ear. He went to him and tapped his head. "That's the least of your problems."

And then he left him alone in the tent.

A few seconds later, the gunshots began. Raza struggled, trying to do something, anything, but his muscles were clenched, useless, as if he had lost all control over his body. Was this how it would end? Was this the final chapter of Raza's tale? A lifetime of servitude to the Ten Rings rewarded with this? He heard footsteps and suddenly four men were in front of him, Stane's men; Raza's eyes were the only part of his body that could move and they were filled with hatred as he stared at them. They lifted their guns, pointing at him.

And then, out of nowhere, a light glowed inside the tent. The men opened their mouths, as if in pain, but instead of a scream, another sound came out of them.

" _OOOINK!_ "

Before Raza's shocked eyes, Stane's men began to transform. Their hands turned into paws, they dropped on all fours, the color of their skin changed and their faces twisted until their features were deformed into a new form.

They were not men anymore. They were pigs.

Raza was breathing fast, doing all he could to move, to run, to put as much distance as he could between _that_ and himself, but his body didn't respond. He couldn't understand, couldn't come up with an answer to what was happening. The only thing Raza could do was stare at the pigs in front of him, pigs that just a few seconds ago had been men.

And be afraid. More afraid than he even thought it was possible.

"My, my, it is always a sight to see when men reveal their true nature, is it not?" a voice spoke from behind him, the soft steps sounding closer.

The first thing Raza could see were her feet, bare, with a golden ring around her ankle. Then he saw long legs, also bare, the pale skin looking like luxurious silk under the weak light. There was a purple cloth around her waist, barely covering her hips, tastefully twisted and turned to cover her breasts and a single shoulder, leaving the rest of her skin uncovered; her long, dark red hair fell all the way down, nearly to her calves. She had a golden crown around her head, thin like a tiara, with a purple jewel in the middle.

She was the most beautiful woman Raza had ever laid eyes upon and for a moment everything else was forgotten.

"You are the same, are you not?" the woman laughed, softly, her red lips turning into a smile. "Not even pain and the threat of death are enough to rid men of their lust, it seems." She touched his face, her finger tracing his scars. "Hardly any difference between men and pigs."

Her violet eyes were fixed on Raza's; she smiled again.

"Luckily for you, you are an important pig, Raza Hamidmi Al-Wazar," she said, lifting an eyebrow. "More important than these, that is certain. You managed to draw the attention of the Godkiller. That must count for something, yes?"

She traced a circle in the air and a fiery portal opened in front of Raza's astonished eyes. He could see a palace glowing on an island behind it.

"Let us talk elsewhere, little piggy."

Raza felt his body move, lifted in the air, and before he could even imagine what was happening, they disappeared through the portal, closing it behind them.

* * *

 **Hey guys, good to see you again! New chapter, I hope you like it and I also hope you're all doing great!**


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